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OF  THE 

MIND  ON  THE  BODY; 


THE 

UELATIONS  OF  THE  FACULTIES  TO  THE  ORGANS,  AND  TO  THE  ELEMENTS 
OBJECTS  AND  PHENOMENA  OF  THE  EXTERNAL  WORLD. 


BY 

S.  B.  BRITTAN,  M.D. 


THE  SKEPTIC  IS  PRONE  TO  DISPUTE  ; BUT  IT  IS  THE  PP.OVINCE  OF  THE  PHILOSOPHER  TO  RE^^SON.  ' 


SUCCESSOR  TO  W.  A.  TOWNSEND. 

1865. 


V 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864,  by  . 

W.  A.  TOWNSEND, 

111  the  Clerk’s  Oflace  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District 

of  New  York. 


O.  A.  ALVORD,  PRINTER. 


PREFACE. 


IN  attempting  to  classify  the  phenomena  that  illustrate  the  laws  and 
relations  of  the  Human  Mind,  the  Author  the  followi^  treatise 
has  only  obeyed  a natural  but  irresistiblc^impulse.  It  is  |^t  of  course 
pretended  that  he  was  summoned  to  this  work  by  the  commanding 
voice  of  a new  Apocalypse,  and  he  is  quite  sure  that  it  was  no  mere 
caco'6th?s  scrthendi  that  prompted  him  to  write.  It  was  rather  a ra- 
tional but  intense  interest  in  whatever  most  deeply  concerns  the  true 
nature  and  substantial  progress  of  Man.  The  preliminary  investigation 
was  somewhat  protracted ; and  the  philosophical  suggestions  that  accom- 
pany the  present  classification  of  vital  and  mental  phenomena,  are 
deliberately  offered  as  the  result  of  a long  course  of  observation  and 
numerous  experiments  in  the  department  of  Psycho-physiology. 

The  Author  can  only  urge  the  force  of  his  own  convictions  as  a rea- 
son for  his  earnest  manner,  and  a somewhat  confident  expression  of  his 
views  on  questions  that  may  be  regarded  as  unsettled.  Had  he  ap- 
proached the  difficult  problems  of  psychological  science  with  the  timid 
circumspection,  that  holds  itself  at  a great  distance  from  the  themes  it 
proposes  to  discuss,  he  would  have  justly  incurred  the  suspicion  of 
trifling  with  a grave  subject.  Whilst  he  would  offer  no  occasion  for 
such  a charge,  he  is  forcibly  reminded  that  a dogmatic  spirit  is  wholly 
out  of  place  in  the  philosophical  treatment  of  profound  questions. 

The  facts  that  illustrate  the  power  of  the  Imagination  and  the  capa- 
city of  the  individual  Will  to  influence  the  functions  of  other  persons — 
as  exhibited  in  both  physiological  and  psychological  eftects— are  largely 
derived  from  the  records  of  the  Author’s  experience  ; but  the  results 
of  his  own  Experiments  certainly  furnish  proper  criteria  for  an  en- 
lightened judgment.  Whilst  the  entire  course  of  reasoning,  and  all 
the  writer’s  conclusions  are  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  ordeal  of  the 
most  searching  analysis  and  criticism,  he  can  not  acknowledge  the 
right  of  any  one  to  discredit  the  facts  themselves,  especially  since  they 


939097 


IV 


PREFACE. 


have  been  repeated,  either  before  large  public  assemblies,  or  under  the 
immediate  inspection  of  many  intelligent  witnesses. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  the  philosophical  inquirer  to  consider  the 
safety  of  old  systems  and  popular  superstitions.  The  scientific  investi- 
gator should  make  it  his  chief  business  to  discover  and  affirm  the  truth; 
at  the  same  time,  he  may  very  properly  leave  the  schoolmen  to  look 
after  their  own  dogmas,  and  to  the  profitless  task  of  attempting  to  pre- 
serve a kind  of  galvanic  life  in  the  forms  of  the  dying  and  the  dead. 

The  labor  of  arranging  the  materials  for  the  present  volume  ivas  un- 
dertaken before  the  commencement  of  the  Rebellion ; but  the  peculiar 
exigencies  of  the  times  occasioned  a temporary  suspension  of  the  work, 
and  the  writer  has  but  just  completed  his  task.  It  has  been  empha- 
tically a labor  of  love,  conceived  and  prosecuted  with  scarcely  a thought 
of  the  prospective  result,  in  any  commercial  sense.  Should  this  treatise 
awaken  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  a rational  desire  to  know  himself 
more  perfectly,  the  labor  of  its  composition  will  not  have  been  in  vain  ; 
and  the  Author  will  not  fail  of  securing  a suitable  recompense  should 
the  publication  of  his  book  promote  the  cardinal  interests  of  Mankind. 

The  Author  must  regard  the  general  subject  of  this  treatise  as  one 
of  paramount  importance.  Indeed,  natural  objects  and  phenomena 
become  more  interesting  as  we  advance  from  the  lower  toward  the 
higher  gradations  of  being.  Every  step  upward  from  unorganized 
matter  presents  to  the  ordinary  observer  new  objects  of  beauty,  while 
it  opens  to  the  philosopher  a wider  field  of  investigation.  But  it  is 
only  when  we  approach  the  realm  of  I.ntelligence,  that  we  become 
conscious  of  standing 

“ Oa  the  last  verge  of  mortal  being— 

by  the  enchanted  confines  of  that  World  where  souls  exchange  their 
earthly  vestments  for  robes  of  Immortality.  The  whole  subject  is  at 
once  supremely  solemn  and  sublime.  This  unfathomable  mystery  of 
thought ; this  power  to  grasp  the  laws  of  Nature ; this  majestic  play 
of  moral  and  material  forces ; these  golden  memories  and  prophetic  as- 
pirations, that  unite  the  Past  and  the  Future  in  the  Present ! — all  con- 
tribute to  deepen  the  grand  mystery  of  our  microcosmical  existence, 
whilst  they  impressively  suggest  that  our  scene  of  action  is  the  Uni- 
verse ; that  Eternity  is  our  opportunity,  and  that  we  have  Angels  and 
God  for  our  kindred. 

New  Yoke,  July,  1864. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE 


Page. 


rfclimiuary  Observations — 'Relations  of  Inward  Forces  and  Essential  Laws  to  the 
Forms  and  Plienome'na  of  the  External  "iVorld — The  Kingdoms  of  Nature,  Material  Re- 
velations of  the  Divine  Life — Archetypal  Forms  of  Nature  and  Art — Duality  of  Man — 
Individualization  of  the  'Vital  Principle — Forms  and  Qualities  of  Things  essentially  ex- 
ist in  their  Causes — Formation  of  the  Embryo  from  the  coexisting  Interior  Individu- 
ality— Supremacy  of  the  Mind  over  the  Body — General  Illustrations — Atheistical 
Theories — Voluntary  Powers  of  Animals  and  Man — Descartes’  Theory  of  the  Universe 
— Man  a Kingdom  by  himself— Intimate  Relations  of  the  Soul  and  Body 


CHAPTER  II. 

ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES. 

Importance  of  the  Subject — Agency  of  Vital  Electricity  in  the  Organic  Functions— 
Researches  of  European  Philosophers— Galvani -Volta— Aldini—Nobili  -Matteucci — 
Humboldt— Emil  du  Bois— Reymond — Professor  Buff— Alfred  Smee — Mesmer — Decree 
of  the  French  Academy — Distinguished  Disciples — Triumph  of  Truth  over  Skepticism 
— Deleuze — Townshend — Georget — M.  Foissac — M.  Bertrand — Mialle — Baron  Dupotet — 

Dr.  Elliotson — Dr.  Ashburner  and  Dr.  Esdaile — Homogeneousness  of  the  Nervous  and 
the  Electric  Principles — ^Value  of  the  Discovery  to  the  Physiological  Investigator  and 
to  Science 22 

CHAPTER  III. 

CIRCULATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS. 

Defects  of  the  Accredited  Systems — Facts  in  Physiological  Science — Amazing  Forces 
and  Complicated  Functions— A.gency  of  Electricity  in  the  Circulation  of  the  Blood — 
Reference  to  Alfred  Smee’s  work — The  Electrical  Fishes — Observations  of  Humboldt 
and  Prof.  Beckeinsteiner — Demonstrative  Experiment  at  Saratoga — Generation  of  Vital 
Heat  by  Electric  action — Cause  of  the  Change  in  the  Color  of  the  Blood 33 

CHAPTER  lY. 

CONDITIONS  OF  THE  VITAL  HARMONY. 

Opposite  Forces — Illustrations  among  the  Elements — Animated  Nature — Health  and 
Disease — Essential  Conditions  Specified— The  Cooperation  of  Nature — A Strong  Mind 
and  'W'eak  Body — Passions  and  Pursuits  as  Disturbing  Causes — Our  Education  Defect- 
ive-Fashionable Caricatures— The  Ideal  Harmony 43 


VI 


. CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V 

PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OP  VITAL  DERANGEMENT. 

, PAGE. 

Positive  and  Negative  Forms  of  Disease — Improper  Expenditure  of  Vital  Energy — 
Inevitable  Consequences — Results  of  Normal  and  Abnormal  Physical  Exercises — Ex- 
cessive Alimentiveness — Effects  of  Narcotics  and  Stimulants — A False  Hypothesis- 
Amatory  Perversions — Electrical  Causes  of  Fevers  and  of  Cholera — How  to  guard 
against  the  several  causes  of  Vital  Derangement 51 

CHAPTER  Vr. 

VOLUNTARY  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES 
The  Mind  and  its  Agent — Voluntary  and  Involuntary  Faculties  distinguished — Rela-  ' 
tions  of  Mind  to  the  Organic  Functions — Its  influence  in  Vital  Chemistry — Ageuey  of 
the  Will — Power  to  resist  Pain — St.  Augustine  and  the  Priest — The  Italian  Poet, 

Marini — Remarkable  Powers  of  Charles  W.  Lawrence— Influence  of  Mental  Excite- 
ment on  Sensation — Case  of  Nathan  B.  Gates — How  timid  natures  suffer  and  the  brave 
endure ’. 61 

CHAPTER  VII. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS. 

Nature  of  the  Passions— Opinions  of  Philosophers — The  classification  by  Plato  and 
Aristotle — Influence  of  the  Passions  on  the  processes  of  vital  chemistry — Effects  ot 
intense  Sensuous  Love — How  certain  Passions  produce  particular  forms  of  Disease — 
Influence  of  Fear  in  changing  the  color  of  the  Hair — Philosophy  of  the  process — Pro- 
fessor Beckeinsteiner’s  Experiments  on  Animals— Singular  Experience  of  a Telegraph 
Operator — Irregularity  of  the  change  in  persons  of  unequal  mental,  temperamental, 
and  organic  development — Illustration  from  the  records  of  the  writer’s  observations 
— Further  summary  of  the  Electro-chemical  and  Physiological  Effects  of  the  Passions  70 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT 
Influence  of  Mind  over  the  Vital  Forces — How  it  deranges  the  Functions  and  De- 
stroys Life — Its  Relations  to  Congestion,  Paralysis,  and  other  forms  of  Disease — Fatal 
Consequences  of  false  impressions— Hydrophobia  produced  by  the  Mind— A fatal 
Bleeding  without  the  loss  of  a drop  of  blood — Examples  cited  by  Dr.  Moore — A Man 
shot  dead  with  blank  cartridges— Death  of  another  on  the  block— How  a Pestilence 
may  be  arrested — Three  fatal  cases  of  Cholera  as  the  result  of  the  Mind’s  action — An 
illustrative  Fable— A Man  killed  by  an  ungovernable  Temper — Irritable  children  and 
weak  nerves — Mistakes  at  Coroner’s  Inquests— The  Broken  Harp 8‘ 

CHAPTER  IX. 

RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 
Unreasoning  confidence  in  Drugs  - The  Renovating  Principle  in  Man— The  restorative 
process— Its  relations  to  the  Mind — Influence  of  outward  conditions — Consequences  of 
opposite  mental  states — Total  relaxation  and  inactivity  dangerous— Faith  superior  to 
Physic — Relations  of  Amulets,  Prayers,  Incantations,  etc.,  to  physiological  effects— 


CONTENTS 


Til 


Page. 

Importanco  of  giving  a right  direction  to  tho  Mind— Health  found  in  a pleasant  Aro- 
matic-Disease removed  with  a hot  Poker — The  Paper-cure— A Psychological  Emetic 
— Jesus  observed  tho  Psycho-dynamic  Laws — Absurdity  of  the  theories  of  popular 
Materialism 94 

CHAPTER  X. 

MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE. 

The  inward  Forces— False  views  of  the  nature  of  Disease— Conditions  of  the  Earth 
and  Atmosphere— Man’s  positive  relation  in  the  outward  World— How  theCitadel  may 
be  defended— Experiments  of  Dutrochet— Structure  of  the  membranes  of  animal  and 
human  Bodies — ^Relations  of  Mind  to  the  powers  of  physical  resistance— The  Sisters  of 
Charity — Strong  mental  Excitements  may  fortify  the  Body — Power  to  resist  Heat  and 
Cold — Reference  to  Dr.  Kane,  the  Arctic  Explorer — Col.  Fremont’s  Expeditions — 

Painful  Experiences  among  the  passes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada — The  Colonel’s  Inspiration 
—Conquests  of  the  Positive  Man 106 

CHAPTER  XI. 

EVILS  OF  EXCESSIVE  PROCREATION. 

The  higher  Law — What  things  are  pure  and  beautiful — Writers  on  the  Philosophy  of 
Impregnation — Rapid  Propagation  among  the  lower  Classes — The  Problem  and  the 
Solution — Destruction  of  the  Unborn — Excessive  Procreation  at  war  with  Nature 
—The  evil  Consequences — Legal  and  Conventional  Morality— The  Cannibalism  of  Lust — 
Infldels  in  the  temple  of  the  Affections— Indifference  to  momentous  Consequences — A 
solemn  Responsibility — ^Fearful  self-sacrifice — Disease  at  the  Baptism,  and  Crime  at 
the  Communion 319 

CHAPTER  XII. 

MENTAL  ELECTROTYPING  ON  VITAL  SURFACES. 

Relations  of  Light  and  Electricity  to  Vegetable  Chemistry — Prismatic  ofQce  of  the 
Flowers — Electrotyping  on  the  body  of  a living  Man—  Philosophy  of  Marking  Chil- 
dren— Relation  of  Poetry  and  Pictures  to  Ideality  and  Beauty— Influence  of  a Mouse 
and  a Minister — Reproduction  of  the  Golden  Locks,  and  Reflection  of  the  Violet  Ray— 

John  the  Baptist  and  the  Boy  with  one  Suspender — A mournful  case — Results  of  Obe- 
dience to  Jhe  Law 129 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS  ON  MIND  AND  MORALS 

Definition  of  Beauty— Views  of  Kant,  Burke,  Hogarth,  Alison,  Dugald,  Stewart  and 
Goethe — Influence  of  Music — Its  action  on  the  nervous  circulation  of  Animals — Asa 
Remedial  Agent — Case  of  Saul — Melodies  of  Nature — Irresistible  power  of  Gentleness 
.and  Love — ^Miss  Dix  in  the  Maniac’s  cell — The  Apostle  John,  Fenelon,  Oberlin,  and 
Howard— The  Mystical  Book  of  the  Recording  Angel — An  essential  Law  of  Organized 
Existence — Assimilation  of  Moral  Elements — How  we  are  transformed  by  our  Ideals  — 
Materialism  of  Modern  Utilitarians— Material  Symbols  of  Religious  Ideas— The  Goths 
in  Italy — Grecian  and  Roman  Art — Lessons  from  Nature — A Poet’s  Vision— The  Mes- 
senger in  White  Raiment— How  we  fashion  the  Angel  Within 


137 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

RELATIONS^OF  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

Page, 

General  Observations — The  Fine  Arts  and  Civilization — The  Magic  Isles — Influence 
of  Ancient  Greece  on  Modern  Ideas — Value  of  Personal  Beauty — The  Author’s  Ana- 
lysis— Prevalence  of  false  Views — Reference  to  Headley’s  Letters  from  Italy — The 
Conceptions  of  French  and  Italian  Ladle, s — Influence  of  the  Mind  on  the  Muscles — The 
History  on  the  Wall — Expression  as  an  element  of  Beauty — Creations  of  Ludovico 
Caracci,  the  Cyclops  of  Timanthes  and  the  Cartoons  of  Raphael — Illustrations  from 
practical  Life  -Desolating  power  of  the  Passions— Glory  of  a great  Character 157 


CHAPTER  XY. 

RELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  THE  CHARACTER  OF  OFFSPRING 

An  Organic  Law— Natural  Imperfections  the  Causes  of  Social  and  Moral  Evils — 
Conditions  and  Laws  of  Vital  and  Moral  Harmony— Law  of  Hereditary  Transmission 
applicable  to  the  whole  Man — The  Family  Character  and  the  Family  Face — Apparent 
Exceptions  to  the  Law — Mental  and  Moral  States  of  Parents  reproduced  in  their  Off- 
spring-lilustrative  Examples— A Melancholy  Instance— The  Question  of  Responsi- 
bility-Injustice of  Criminal  Tribunals — Obliquities  of  Reason  and  Conscience— Bar- 
barous Spirit  of  Popular  Opinions— The  Church  Contaminated— Deliberate  Murders 
under  the  Sanctions  of  Law  and  Religion — Members  of  Congress  Honorable  Excep- 
tions— Moral  Blindness — A Mischievous  Doctrine— One  Law  works  ruin  to  Transgres- 
sors, while  it  redeems  the  Faithful 171 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  SENSES  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS. 

Number  of  the  Senses— The  Faculties  and  Organs— Sight— Hearing— Smelling— 
Tasting — ^Feeling — Estimated  number  of  Nerves  in  a single  Organ — General  diffusion 
of  Sensibility— Philosophy  of  Vision— Views  of  the  Platonists,  Stoics  and  Epicurians 
— Mariotte’s  Opinion  respecting  the  seat  of  Vision  - Sir  David  Brewster  and  M.  Lchot 
— The  Sensorial  Processes — Alfred  Smeo’s  Experimental  Illustrations 187 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 

Atmospheres  of  Worlds  and  of  all  Living  Beings— Physical  Elements  and  Moral 
Forces— The  Soul-measuring  power— Characteristics  discovered  in  the  subtle  effluence 
from  the  Human  Mind— Dr.  Buchanan’s  Earlier  Investigations- IIow  Psychometry 
was  regarded  by  the  Faculty— Discovery  of  Crimes  and  Detection  of  Criminals— Im- 
portant Experiments  on  the  Brain— The  Author’s  Experimental  Tc.sts  — I’sychometric 
powers  of  Mrs.  Mettler-  Miss  Parson’s  graphic  pictures  of  Distinguished  Characters 
- Translation  of  Ancient  Mysteries — Consecrated  Places— Revelations  to  the  Inward 



197 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATION. 


Page. 


Isolation  impossible— The  democracy  of  Nature — The  Elements  impressive  Teachers 
— All  bodies  have  their  Atmospheres— Reciprocal  interchange  of  Elements— Universal 
Relations, Causes  and  Effects — Powers  of  Fascination  directed  to  specific  Objects — ^^Ex- 
amplcs  of  Charming — Birds  fascinated  by  Serpents — Case  of  a Chibl  near  Gilb<^rt’s 
Mills — An  illustration  from  Vaillant’s  Travels  in  Africa -Opinion  of  Or.  Newman— 
Serpent  Charmers  of  India — The  I.aplauder’s  power  over  his  Dogs — Sullivan  and 
Rarey,  the  Horse-tamers — Fascination  of  Birds  by  a Belgian  Beauty — Man  the  Go- 
vernor of  the  World — A lecture  at  Putnam — A Canine  illustration 212 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 

Introductory  Observations — Assumptions  of  Superficial  Investigators — ^Testimony  of 
the  late  Dr,  Gregory— Philosophical  Suggestions — Lawless  Speculators  and  scientific 
Babel-builders — ^Criticism  of  the  Great  Plarnionia — Amazing  production  of  Mechanical 
Force — Timely  discovery  of  a common  Error — Professional  Fallacies — Science  defined 
and  Medicine  found  wanting — Phenomenal  aspects  of  the  Magnetic  Sleep 223 


CHAPTER  XX. 

MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 

Absurdities  of  a routine  Practice — Cosmological  Changes— Progressive  refinement 
of  Human  Nature — Modes  of  equalizing  the  Circulation — A system  founded  on  Natural 
Law — Confirmation  a Cure  for  Rheumatism — Observations  by  the  Author — Mrs. 
Gardner  cured  of  Asthma — Case  of  Catalepsis  at  the  City  Hotel,  Springfield — Medical 
skill  ineffectual — The  young  Lady  suddenly  restored — Asphyxiafrom  a fall — Mrs.  Mills 
cured  of  pleurisy — RheumatieJ’ever  and  Inflammation  suddenly  subdued — Philosophy 
of  the  Effects — Case  of  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Lockwood— Testimony  of  the  Stamford 
Advocate — Letter  from  the  Patient — Instantaneous  cure  of  Symptomatic  Derangement 
— ^The  Lunatic  clothed  and  in  her  right  mind 236 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY 

Magnetism  in  the  treatment  of  Disease — Its  use  in  the  practice  of  Surgery — Removal 
of  a Cancerous  Breast  by  AI.  Cloquet— Singular  ground  of  opposition  to  Magnetism — 
Stupidity  of  Dr.  Copeland  and  a Scotch  Divine — Dr.  James  Esdaile’s  practice  in 
British  India — ^Seventy-three  painless. operations  at  Hoogly — Case  of  Teencowrie  Paulit 
— Removal  of  a Tumor  weighing  eighty  pounds- Decisive  Experiments— Opinion  of 
Dr.  Esdaile— Magnetism  prevents  excessive  Hemorrhage  and  subsequent  Inflamma- 
tion— Further  observations— The  Author’s  Experiments — Application  of  Alagnetism 
m Dental  Surgery — Saving  a finger  that  had  been  off  nearly  half  an  hour— Scientific 
authorities  mistaken— The  Doctors  mortified  instead  of  the  Patient’s  finger 


250 


X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 

Illusions  of  the  Henses— How  to  test  the  accuracy  of  our  Perceptions— Objects  and 
their  Shadows — Descartes’  theory— Newton’s  discovery — The  Mirage  on  the  Eastern 
Deserts— The  Fata  Morgana,  seen  at  the  Straits  of  Messina— M.  Monge’s  Explanation 
before  the  Institute  at  Cairo,  in  Egypt— The  forms  of  Ideas— The  Phantom  World- 
Philosophy  of  Sensorial  Illusions — Illustrations  from  Dr.  Abercrombie— Sir  Isaac 
Newton  on  Ocular  Spectra — The  sense  of  Hearing  deceived— Louis  Brabant,  the  Ven- 
triloquist, and  the  beautiful  Heiress— Personation  of  the  Father’s  ghost— The  Banker 
of  Lyons  and  his  ideal  Visitors — Louis  obtains  a fortune  and  marries  his  Mistress — M. 
St.  Gill  in  a Convent — Remarkable  Ventriloquial  power— Chanting  to  a Voice — The 
Phantom  Hosts  of  Disease  and  Dissipation 


Pagk 


260 


CHAPTER  XXiri. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS. 

Nature  the  multiform  expression  of  the  Infinite  Thought — The  Psychological  Power 
— Conditions  of  Impressibility — Action  of  material  agents  on  the  Body — Influence  of 
Objects  and  Ideas  on  the  Mind— Strong  Men  often  the  most  Susceptible— The  power  of 
Speech — The  Silent  Language — Shadows  of  Ideas — Philosophy  of  Thought-reading — 
Electrical  Influence  of  Oratory  and  Poetry — The  mysterious  Inward  Fire — It  kindles 
in  the  eye  and  burns  on  the  lip — Summary  of  Illustrative  Facts — Appeals  to  the  Com- 
mon Experience — Influence  of  visitors  on  Sick  Persons—  Inferences  from  the  Author’s 
Experimental  Investigations 271 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 

Casual  Phenomena — The  Author’s  private  Experiments — Vulgar  and  avaricious 
Pretenders — Human  nature  brutalized — Musical  Experiments  with  Miss  Wilder — Miss 
Buckeley  and  the  Floral  Exhibition — Spell  of  the  Magnetic  Water — The  Revolver  Test 
— Exquisite  susceptibility  of  Mrs.  Rice — A verbatim  dispatch  over  the  Mental  Tele- 
graph— Curious  Illustrations  at  a Social  Party — Convincing  proofs  by  a strange  Lady 
— A young  Man  sent  for — He  answers  the  Mental  Telegram  in  ten  minutes— Tele- 
graphing from  New  Canaan  to  Norwalk— Mrs.  Gardner  is  summoned  by  the  Silent 
Courier— A Message  sent  eighteen  miles,  to  Grace  Goodyear — The  Lady,  receives  it 
while  she  is  asleep — A Dream  inspired  at  a distance  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty 
Miles  I— Objections  Answered 281 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION. 

Introversion  of  the  Mind— Ideal  and  practical  Men  — Facts  universally  perceived — 
Principles  seldom  comprehended— Analytical  and  synthetical  Powers- Vulgar  con- 
ceptions of  Utility—  Fasting  and  Asceticism — Customs  of  the  Ancic'ut  Prophets — AVor- 
shiping  in  Groves  and  Mountains  The  Druids- Consecration  of  desolate  places — In- 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


Page. 

flucnco  of  nipntal  Introversion  on  Sensation — Archimedes  of  Syracuse — Statesmen, 
Philosophers  and  Poets— The  mental  Foci — State  of  Entrancement — Perversion  of  the 
Faculty — Vital  and  organic  Derangements — Tendency  to  Fanaticism — Roger  Bacon 
an  d Si  meon  Sty  lites 298 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 

Introductory  Observations — Analogy  between  the  Vegetable  and  Animal  Kingdoms 
— Uninterrupted  slumber  of  the  Foetus — Remarkable  tendency  to  somnolence  in  Young 
Children— Reasons  why  they  require  more  Sleep  than  Adults— General  condition  and 
aspects  of  the  Sleeper — Philosophy  of  the  Physical  Phenomena— Boerhaave’s  brass 
pan  and  water  Soporific — Universal  Action  and  Reaction — Diurnal  ebb  and  flow  of 
Vital  Forces  and  Fluids — Brief  Digest  of  Physiological  Facts  and  Observations — We 
sleep  and  wake  under  the  action  of  an  irresistible  Law— Loss  of  the  Vital  Equilibrium 
in  Cataleptic  and  other  Trances — Sleep  essential  to  Vital  Harmony  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  Life — Its  Moral  Influence  and  Spiritual  Ministry 310 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 

General  Observations  on  the  Nature  of  Sleep — Relations  of  Dreams  to  Physical  Ob- 
jects and  Physiological  Laws— Dr.  Gregory’s  Dream — Relations  of  certain  Dreams  to 
the  Passions — ^Phreno- Magnetism — Dreams  inspired  by  Whispering  in  the  Ear — Amus- 
ing Experiments  on  a Military  Officer— Influence  of  Established  Principles  and  Ideas 
in  Dreams— Cuvier’s  Humorous  Illustration — Psychometric  Dreaming— Remarkable 
Examples — Dreams  Discovering  lost  Property— Witnessing  Distant  Occurrences  in 
Sleep — A Thrilling  Instance— Philosophy  of  Allegorical  Dreams— The  Author’s  Exam- 
ples—Socrates  and  the  Youth  with  the  Flaming  Torch— Reference  to  Professor 
Draper’s  Views— Relations  of  the  Soul  to  mental  and  Moral  Forces — Nature  and 
Dream-Land 323 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 

The  Mental  Faculties  in  Sleep — Illustration  of  their  concentrated  and  orderly  action 
— Curious  Discoveries  in  Dream-Land— Cases  of  Mary  Lyall  and  Cornelius  Broomer 
—Experiences  of  De  Quincy  and  Macnish— A rapid  Voyage  to  India — An  hour  among 
the  Pyramids  of  the  Nile — Mechanical  Inventions— Experiences  of  Dr.  Franklin  and 
Professor  Gregory — Sermonizing  in  Sleep— A Legal  Opinion  by  a Dreamer— Produc- 
tion of  a Parody  on  Piron— Schonemann’s  Improvisations- Fragments  from  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Muses — Tartini  and  the  Devil’s  Sonata— Philosophical  Suggestions  and 
Conclusion 348 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SOMNAMBULISM  AND  S OMNILO  QUISM. 

Pagb. 

Physiological  Aspects  of  the  Sleep-walker — Somnambulism  in  the  Lyric  Drama — 
Dangers  incidental  to  the  State — Curious  Case  of  a Dog — Examples  from  Dr.  Gall,  Mer- 
tinet,  Dr.  Pritchard,  and  Professor  Soave— The  Author’s  Facts— Remarkable  Case  of 
a Student  at  Athens — An  amusing  Instance— Somniloquism — Influence  of  our  Pursuits 
— Lady  Macbeth,  and  the  '’leep  walker  in  Bellini’s  Opera— Case  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Cook — 
Personal  Experiences— An  Audience  in  the  Bed  chamber — Philosophical  Suggestions 
— Association  of  Ideas  and  Movements— Testimony  of  Muller — Examples  from  Forty’s 
“ Mystical  Revelations” — Jenny  Lind  and  the  Musical  Somnambulist— Principles  and 
Revelations  of  Nature 358 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 

Preliminary  Observations— Relations  of  Clairvoyance  to  the  Pagan  Mysteries — ^Illus- 
trations from  the  Scriptures — Croesus  and  the  Emperor  Trajan  consult  the  Oracles — 

The  Seer  of  Samos — Revelations  of  Apollonius — Testimony  of  St.  Augustine— Examples 
from  the  Life  of  Swedenborg — The  Seoress  of  Prevorst — Illustrative  Facts  from  Dr. 
de  Bonneville,  Jacob  Bohme,  Stilling,  and  Zschokke— Remarkable  Cases  from  Perty's 
Mystical  Revelations— A Provost  Marshal  of  France  among  the  Seers — Discovery  of 
Captain  Austin  and  Sir  John  Franklin — Clairvoyance  of  Alexi.s — A Seoress  in  Hart- 
ford reads  an  Epitaph  in  Bermuda — She  Discovers  a Remedy  for  Yellow  Fever — A 
Doctor  mistakes  Solids  for  Fluids — Seeing  a Cambric  Needle  twenty  four  miles  off, 
and  a penny  at  a distance  ol  one  thousand  miles  ! — Surprising  Developments— A Fair 
Infidel  and  her  Inamorato  Exposed— Second  Sight  of  the  Highlanders — Application 
of  the  Argument  to  Science— Concluding  Observations 377 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 

Material  tendencies  of  Science — Influence  of  Literature  and  the  Elegant  Arts — Pre- 
monitions, a phase  of  Prophetic  Inspiration — Reference  to  Sir  Walter  Scott — The 
prophetic  element  in  Poetry — Wordsworth  and  Campbell — Death  of  Governor  Marcy 
— His  Daughter’s  Premonition — Hon.  N.  P.  Tallmadge,  and  the  accident  on  the  U,  S. 

War  Steamer  Princeton— Miss  M and  the  officer  in  the  Peninsular  Campaign — Loss 

of  the  Arctic — Prophetic  Intimations  to  Five  Persons — Life  saved  by  a Premonition  at 
the  Norwalk  Railroad  Disaster — Prophecy  of  the  Burning  of  the  Henry  Clay — Mrs. 
Swisshelm’s  Report  of  Dr.  Wilson’s  Prophecies — Death  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  pre- 
dicted three  months  before  it  occurred — Jaspers,  the  Westphalian  Shepherd — I-ottor 
to  President  Taylor  concerning  ancient  Peruvian  Prophecies— Goethe’s  Experience — 
Prophecy  of  Cardicre,  from  the  Life  of  Michael  Angelo— Remarkable  Prophecies  by 
Roger  Bacon — Inspiration,  Heroic  Achievements,  and  Martyrdom  of  the  Shepherdess 
of  Lorraine — Exposition  of  the  Law  of  Prophecy 413 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


Pagb. 


Preliminary  Observations — Extraordinary  Experience  of  a Lady — Facts  from  “ The 
Night  Side  of  Nature” — Professor  Becker  meets  his  own  Shade — An  Apparition 
appeals  to  Liunseus— A Man  goes  to  Europe  without  his  Body— Mysterious  Interview 
in  a London  Colfee  house— Mr.  Wilson  is  visible  in  Hamilton  while  he  is  dreaming  in 
Toronto — An  Actor  in  New  York  when  he  is  in  Washington — A Lunatic  in  and  out  of 
the  Asylum  at  the  same  time— Apparition  of  the  late  Joseph  T.  Bailey— Midnight 
Visit  to  a Boudoir  in  Lafayette  Place — The  Author’s  Shadow  in  Louisville  when  his 
Substance  is  Five  Hundred  Miles  off— Exciting  Scene  in  a Ball-room— Refutation  of 
Sir  David  Brewstrer’s  Theory — Assumptions  of  theSadducean  Philosophers— Explana- 


tion of  the  Phenomena, 


445 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 

Preliminary  Considerations — Hybernation— Life  and  Death  defined — M.  Jobert  de 
Lamballe’s  Experiments— The  Vital  Functions  restored  by  Electricity— Institutions  for 
the  resuscitation  of  drowned  Persons — A Surprising  Story — An  Indian  Fakir  entombed 
alive — He  is  restored  after  ten  Months— Dr.  George  Watterson  on  Premature  Burials — 

Case  of  D.  C.  Mitchell — Reanimation  of  Mrs.  Columbia  Lancaster — A Presbyterian 
Divine  leaves  the  body  and  returns — A Man  resuscitated  at  Memphis — Remarkable 
Case  before  the  French  Academy — Irresistible  power  of  Love — Case  of  Rev.  William 
Tennent — Examples  from  the  Scriptures — Resurrection  of  Lazarus— Reference  to  M. 
Renan’s  Life  of  Jesus— Concluding  Observations 465 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 

The  grand  Harmony  of  the  Universe — Nature  the  Divine  Improvisation — Defini- 
tion of  Inspiration — Men  of  Genius  and  their  Works — The  Poets  and  Musicians — • 
Mozart  and  his  Requiem— Remarkable  Improvisatores— Illustrations  in  the  Curiosities 
of  Literature — Harris  and  the  Golden'  Age — Sources  of  Inspired  Ideas — Language  an 
imperfect  Medium — The  Spirit  and  the  Letter — Inspiration,  a Vital  Reality  rather  than 
a Fact  of  History — Imperfect  Reports  of  the  Teachings  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles — 

The  Bible  and  its  Authors — Cerebral  Influence  on  Revelation — Analysis  of  Biblical 
Examples — The  question  of  Plenary  Inspiration — Theological  Form  of  Materalism — 

Man  the  great  Fact — Sacred  Books  and  Religious  Systems,  Phenomena  of  Human 
Existence — God  speaks  to  the  World  now 493 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


Natural  Religion — Universality  of  the  Sentiment — Illustrations  from  the  inferior 
Kingdoms  of  Nature — Perversions  of  the  Religious  Principle — Historical  Examples — 
True  Religion  and  Spiritual  Worship  defined — Pagan  Ideas  among  Christians — Incom- 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

patibility  of  the  Outward  Form  and  Inward  Communion — ^The  uses  of  Religious  Sym- 
bols— How  they  assume  the  place  of  Essential  Principles — Substituting  the  Shadow 
for  the  Substance — Religious  influence  of  Natural  Scenes  and  Objects — Inconsisten- 
cies of  the  Religious  World — Grace  and  Trinity  Churches — The  Church  of  the  Future 
— The  true  Christian  Idea  of  Devotion — The  Temple  of  Toil  and  the  Worshipers 626 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 

Question  of  Immortality — Indestructibility  of  Matter — The  Life-Principle  in  all  Sub- 
stance— Visible  and  Invisible  Elements — Law  of  Organization— Unseen  Realms  of 
Organized  Life — The  Brain  but  the  Instrument  of  the  Mind — the  ultimate  seat  of 
Sensation  in  the  Soul — Exercise  of  the  Faculties  without  the  Corporeal  Organs — The 
Body  periodically  Changed — ^Testimony  of  M,  Favre  before  the  French  Academy — 
Elimination  of  Mineral  Poisons — M.  Orfila’s  demonstrative  Experiments— The  Ma- 
terialist’s Objections — The  Identity  preserved  through  all  Physical  Changes — Argu- 
ment from  Memory — Sensation  and  Consciousness  neither  suspended  nor  circumscrib- 
ed by  the  Amputation  of  Limbs— A popular  Objection  disposed  of— The  imperishable 
Body— Reasons  for  the  apparent  decay  of  the  Faculties— Conclusion 


564 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 

Preliminary  Observations — Relations  of  Inward  Forces  and  Essential  Laws 
to  the  Forms  and  Phenomena  of  the  External  World — The  Kingdoms  of 
Nature,  Material  Revelations  of  the  Divine  Life — Archetypal  Forms  of 
Nature  and  Art— Duality  of  Man — Individualization  of  the  Vital  Prin- 
ciple— Forms  and  qualities  of  Things  essentially  exist  in  their  Causes — 
Formation  of  the  Embryo  from  the  coexisting  interior  Individuality — 
Supremacy  of  the  Mind  over  the  Body — General  Illustrations — Atheistical 
Theories — Voluntary  Powers  of  Animals  and  Man — Descartes’  Theory  of 
the  Universe — Man  a Kingdom  by  himself. — Intimate  Relations  of  the 
Soul  and  Body. 

L1¥E  is  a spiritual  and  natural  revelation  of  the  Divine 
procedure.  Not  in  outward  seeming,  nor  in  the  changing 
phenomena  of  the  terrestrial  world,  but  in  their  vital  prin- 
ciples and  essential  nature,  all  things  endure.  Effects  are 
widely  diversified  ; they  come  and  go  in  endless  conti- 
nuity ; but  essential  causes  cohere,  and  — like  divergent 
streams  — lead  back  to  a common  source.  The  ultimate 
springs  of  being  are  one  in  the  Invisible  ; and  these  great 
life-lines  that  connect  external  forms  with  the  inward  and 
central  Life,  are  unbroken  forever.  The  organic  creation 


10 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


is  preserved  and  rendered  imperishable,  in  respect  to  forms, 
functions  and  uses,  by  the  great  law  and  the  curious  pro- 
cesses of  reproduction.  It  is  true  that  specific  forms  perish 
and  are  decomposed,  so  that — in  external  outlines  and  super- 
ficial aspects — the  world  is  destroyed  every  day.  Yet  the 
world  remains ; and,  in  a most  important  sense,  its  forms  are 
indestructible.  The  living  germs  of  a creation  that  is  ever 
new,  take  root  in  the  ashes  of  this  vast  decay  ; and  the 
earth,  even  now,  is  far  more  radiant  and  beautiful  than 
when  it  arose  from  the  slumber  of  unconscious  and  shapeless 
being, 

“ In  the  young  morning  of  Creation.’" 

In  every  part  of  the  natural  world  the  philosophical 
observer  recognizes  more  than  is  immediately  comprehended 
in  our  organic  perceptions.  The  outward  processes  of  Nature 
demonstrate  the  existence  of  inward  forces  ; specific  forms 
are  the  material  records  of  essential  laws  ; whilst  the  human 
body  may  be  regarded  as  a living  revelation  of  the  indwell- 
ing soul.  These  observations  will  admit  of  universal  appli- 
cation, from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  gradations  of  being. 
Simple  elements,  chemical  combinations  and  physical  forms, 
are  the  elementary  and  organic  revelations  of  the  essential 
Life  and  the  inner  World.  In  the  process  of  crystalli- 
zation the  separate  particles  assume  their  places  under  the 
action  of  inherent  forces  ; the  atomic  polarities  and  their 
mutual  relations  being  determined  — proxirnatcly  by  the 
subtile  forces  of  imponderable  agents,  and  in  the  last  ana- 
lysis by  the  Supreme  Intelligence.  The  crystal  is  the  con- 
crete illustration  of  those  mysterious  attractions  and  alhn- 
ities  whereby  the  ultimate  atoms  coalesce,  remain  united. 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


11 


I 


and  form  the  worlds.  These  potencies  reside  in  all  matter ; 
but  they  are  chiefiy  disclosed  to  us  in  the  gross  elements  and 
ponderable  bodies  of  the  natural  world,  and  through  the 
outward  avenues  of  perception  ; without  which  the  sensuous 
observer  could  neither  discover  their  presence  nor  their  exis- 
tence. The  molecular  deposites,  chemical  processes,  and 
peculiar  structure  of  each  separate  form,  are  dependent  on 
the  energies  inherent  in  the  simple  elements,  and  especially 
on  the  great  laws  of  organization  and  life  as  illustrated  in 
the  external  creation.  Every  atom  is  a vehicle  for  the  silent 
but  irresistible  power  that  renders  it  at  once  an  exponent  of 
its  own  affinities,  and  the  conditions  of  its  association  with 
other  elementary  particles.  Hence  the  visible  world  is  but 
the  phenomenal  exhibition  of  that  superior  realm  which 
comprehends  the  active  forces,  the  primary  forms,  and  the 
eternal  laws  of  the  Universe.  The  mineral,  vegetable  and 
animal  kingdoms  are  succeeding  and  progressive  revelations 
of  those  invisible  principles  that  pervade  all  substance,  and 
pictorial  illustrations  of  the  Divine  Life  that  animates  the 
world. 

Through  all  the  great  kingdoms  of  Nature  the  inward 
force  and  essential  law  precede,  in  the  order  of  time,  the 
outward  process  and  specific  form.  Hence  all  visible  effects 
proceed  from  invisible  causes.  In  the  mineral  kingdom  the 
aggregation  of  particles  is  not  determined  by  outward  pres- 
sure, nor  does  cohesion  depend  on  external  restraints.  The 
great  forces  of  the  natural  world  act  from  within — from 
their  centers  toward  the  circumference.  The  molecular  gra- 
vitation occurs  around  the  homocentric  point  of  attraction  ; 
and  the  inward  force  is  at  once  the  immediate  source  of  the 

2 


12 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


material  impulsion,  and  the  soul  of  the  particular  association 
of  piemen  tary  particles.  Thus  the  elements  involve  the  in- 
most springs  of  life,  and  the  laws  that  determine  all  mate- 
rial combinations  and  rudimental  forms.  The  acorn  con- 
tains the  oak  ; and  all  the  organized  forms  of  the  vegetable 
and  animal  kingdoms  are  unfolded  from  within,  by  virtue  \ 

t 

of  the  forces  that  inhere  in  their  germinal  centers.  In 
speaking  of  their  development  we  distinctly  intimate  the  j 
gradual  unhiding  of  what  before  existed,  but  was  invisible. 

It  is  impossible  to  form  a distinct  conception  that  is  not  as-  k 
^sociated  in  the  mind  with  some  idea  of  form.  Every  work 
of  Art  must  exist  as  a mental  conception,  assuming  a more  f 
or  less  definite  shape  in  the  human  brain.  Hence  all  the  ^1 
i.objects  of  beauty  and  of  use,  fashioned  by  human  hands,  are 
but  objective  forms  of  ideas.  In  like  manner,  all  natural 
objects  are  earthly  shadows  or  reflections  of  archetypal 
forms  inhabiting  eternity,  and  forever  present  in  the  Infinite 
Consciousness. 

The  first  attempt  to  look  into  the  Arcana  of  our  own 
being,  usually  results  in  the  discovery  that  Human  Nature  is 
at  least  two-fold.  The  student  just  entering  on  this  course 
of  investigation  may  be  wholly  incapable  of  making  a criti- 
cal analysis,  either  of  mind  or  body,  and  unequal  to  the  task 
of  a scientific  classification  of  vital  and  mental  phenomena  ; 
but  he  can  hardly  fail  to  observe  the  dmlihj  compreliended 
and  exhibited  in  the  form  and  functions  of  human  existence. 
That  the  conscious  intelligence  and  the  corporeal  instru- 
ment are,  in  a most  essential  sense,  distinct^  while  at  the 
same  time  they  are  intimately  united  in  the  phenomenal 
illustrations  of  life,  sensation,  thouglit  and  action,  is  a truth 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


IB 


sanctioned  not  alone  by  the  philosopher's  reason,  but  by 
familiar  experience  and  universal  consciousness. 

It  might  be  interesting  to  examine  the  feeble  beginnings 
of  our  individual  existence  in  the  light  of  modern  scientific 
discoveries.  It  is  true  that  the  subject  is  still  obscure,  and 
all  that  is  comprehended  in  the  accepted  theory  of  impreg- 
nation would  fail  to  satisfy  the  philosophical  inquirer.  The 
first  visible  indication  of  the  new  form  and  individualized 
life  of  a human  being,  is  an  opaque  speck  floating  in  a thick 
fluid  within  a vesicle  the  size  of  a pea.  But  I do  not  pro- 
pose to  discuss  the  philosophy  of  this  subject.  I shall  not  so 
much  as  pause  to  mark  the  successive  stages  of  embryonic 
formation  and  fetal  development ; notwithstanding  the  in- 
vestigation might  prove  to  be  profitable,  at  least  by  sug- 
gesting reflections  calculated  to  humble  our  pride. 

I have  already  intimated  that  the  forms,  properties  and 
uses  of  all  things  coexist — in  a most  important  sense — with 
the  very  elements  that  enter  into  their  composition  and 
structures.  Whatever  belongs  to  the  fully  developed  state 
of  the  plant,  the  animal  and  the  Man  must  be  latent  in  the 
causes  of  their  production,  and  have  a vital  existence  in  the 
germs  from  which  they  severally  proceed.  Thus  the  embryo 
contains  a man,  not  yet  developed  in  his  faculties  and  func- 
tions, nor  complete  in  organic  structure  and  external  out- 
line. If  we  are  right  in  entertaining  the  idea  that  all  out- 
ward developments  proceed  from  vital  principles  and  arch- 
etypal forms  within,  it  may  be  rationally  inferred  that  our 
essential  Manhood  is  invisible  and  spiritual  ; and  that  the 
organic  formation  results  from,  and  proceeds  in  harmony 
with  the  grand  process  of  interior  individualization.  It  is 


14 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


coherent  with  the  writer’s  philosophy  to  ascribe  priority  of 
existence  to  the  inward  and  invisible  part  of  human  nature. 
Each  separate  organ  of  the  body  may  be  regarded  as  the 
appropriate  revelation  of  a hidden  faculty  of  the  mind,  and 
a distinct  prophecy  of  the  functions  it  is  designed  and  fitted 
to  perform.  The  whole  organic  instrument  thus  represents 
that  complete  assemblage  of  faculties  and  affections  which  J 
together  constitute  the  Human  Spirit.  | 

Whatever  may  be  the  reader’s  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  k 
mind,  he  will  be  constrained  to  acknowledge  its  supremacy  I 
over  the  realm  of  matter.  This  superiority  is  everywhere  (' 
manifested  by  the  exercise  of  our  voluntary  faculties.  The  f 
body  is  but  the  passive  instrument  of  the  mind.  Moreover, 
cold  and  lifeless  elements  yield  to  our  touch,  and  take  the  ' 
plastic  shapes  of  living  ideas.  We  mold  them  into  innu-  ' 
merable  forms  of  utility  and  beauty,  and  Art  has  its  monu- 1 
ments  wherever  civilization  has  found  its  way.  Forms 
instinct  with  seeming  life,  passion  and  sentiment,  start  out 
from  the  walls  of  the  Vatican  and  the  Louvre,  while  the 
sculptured  memorials  of  Genius  yet  rise  like  pale  specters 
among  the  mausoleums  of  Egypt  and  the  shadows  of  the 
Parthenon, 

This  dominion  of  mind  over  matter  is  not  restricted  to  the 
more  ponderable  elements  and  forms  of  the  physical  world  ; 
but  it  also  extends  to  the  imponderables  and  their  myste- 
rious forces,  in  a degree  that  is  only  necessarily  limited  by 
our  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  those  agents,  and  the  sublime 
possibilities  of  human  endeavor.  Even*  now  we  evoke  the 
spirit  of  the  waters  to  aid  us,  and  it  comes  forth  to  move 
.our  commerce  and  our  navies  against  adverse  winds  and 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


15 


tides.  We  put  a soul  in  the  wheel  and  intelligence  in  the 
shuttle.  Remote  nations  speak  to  each  other  with  tongues 
of  fire.  The  finite  mind  cooperates  with  the  silent  forces 
of  the  world,  and  in  the  voices  of  Nature  we  recognize  the 
presence  of  the  Will  in  skillful  and  graceful  modulations. 

There  is  a superficial  and  atheistical  philosophy  that 
makes  the  Universe  at  most  but  a vast  galvanic  pile,  and 
Man  no  more  than  an  automatic,  calculating  and  locomotive 
machine.  It  conceives  of  the  soul  as  common  air,  or  a tran- 
sient flame  arising  from  the  process  of  vital  combustion  ; 
and  of  all  human  intelligence  as  the  phosphorescent  illumina- 
tion of  the  brain.  In  consonance  with  this  cold  and  soulless  ^ 
materialism,  it  is  assumed  that  the  suspension  of  vital  mo-' 
tion,  marks  the  termination  of  all  feeling,  all  thought,  all 
action,  and  all  consciousness  ; and  hence  the  final  extinction 
of  being.  This  is  wholly  incompatible  with  a rational  phi- 
losophy, nor  can  it  be  reconciled  with  the  most  significant 
facts  in  our  experience.  We  must  acknowledge  the  Mind^s 
dominion  over  the  elements,  forms  and  forces  of  the  Phys- 
ical World,  to  be  a government  only  limited  in  the  exercise 
of  its  powers  by  the  present  standard  of  knowledge,  and  the 
imperfect  development  of  the  human  faculties.  W e certainly 
require  no  material  and  metaphysical  analyses  to  enable  us 
to  decide  a question  of  this  nature.  The  most  grovelling 
Materialist  must  accept  what  is  at  once  so  obvious  to  his 
senses,  his  reason  and  his  consciousness  ; namely,  the  superi- 
ority of  the  mind  over  the  body  ; and  he  must  ascribe  to  the 
former  all  those  faculties  and  forces  which  clothe  human 
nature  with  more  than  regal  powers. 

We  have  a class  of  speculative  minds  who  accept  the 


16 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


doctrine  of  immortality  with  peculiar  modifications.  They 
maintain  that  men  have  no  souls  until  some  time  after  their 
bodies  are  completely  formed,  and  they  have  been  fairly 
ushered  into  the  external  world  ; and  hence  that  the  still- 
born have  no  existence  hereafter.  When  the  animal  nature 
entirely  predominates  in  the  parents,  it  is  conjectured  that 
the  spirit  in  the  child  is  not  individualized  until  several 
months  or  years  after  its  birth,  and  in  some  instances  not  at 
all.  This  'presupposes  that  men  never  directly  heget  their 
hind;  hut  that  brutes  are  begotten^  and  that  with  occasional 
exceptions  they  become  truly  human  at  their  birth  or  some- 
time thereafter.  It  is  perhaps  the  general  opinion  amongst 
this  limited  class  of  pseudo-philosophers  that  we  become 
immortal  by  breathing  the  vital  atmosphere.  It  is  true  that 
all  other  animals  inhale  the  same  air,  and  yet  never  ascend 
to  the  plane  of  human  existence.  It  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  oxygen  should  exert  this  amazing  spiritualizing 
power  over  the  genus  Homo  while  it  has  no  si  milar  effect 
on  the  quadrumana.  In  fact  we  discover  nothing  probable 
in  this  singular  hypothesis.  On  the  contrary,  we  may 
presume  that  the  work  of  individualizing  the  intelligent 
principle  in  man  must  commence  with,  and  regulate  the 
process  of  embryonic  formation. 

The  philosophical  mind  will  not  fail  to  observe  in  all 
animated  nature  something  superior  to  the  simple  elements 
and  forces  of  the  material  world.  I refer  to  those  volun- 
tary powers  which  belong  to  the  animal  creation.  Only 
lifeless  things  float  on  the  surface  or  with  the  tide.  The 
living  tenants  of  the  air,  the  sea  and  the  mountain  streams 
move  at  pleasure  against  impetuous  currents  and  the  strong- 


THE  TENA.NT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


17 


est  tides.  The  acquatic  birds,  regardless  of  their  relative 
specific  gravity  to  water,  dive  beneath  the  surface,  or  rise  at 
will  above  it,  into  the  ethereal  regions  ; and  thus  illustrate 
the  superiority  of  voluntary  powers  over  the  innate  forces 
and  laws  of  unorganized  matter. 

But  in  Man  we  are  presented  with  a far  more  diversified 
exhibition  of  voluntary  faculties,  displayed  with  sovereign- 
freedom  and  irresistible  force.  He  is  less  than  our  concep- 
tion of  Man  who  doubts  or  is  disposed  to  pause  at  material 
obstacles.  It  is  Mind  that  transforms  the  solid  and  shape- 
less rocks  into  splendid  cities,  and  warms  and  illuminates 
them  with  materials  derived  from  cold  and  rayless  caverns 
of  the  mountains,  thus  bringing  “ light  out  of  darkness.’'  It 
is  intelligence  that  renders  the  most  destructive  agents 
harmless.  It  converts  fierce  lightnings  into  faithful  couri- 
ers, more  rapid  and  sure  than  the  ancient  wing-footed  mes- 
senger of  the  gods.  Thus  Man  lays  his  hand  on  the  springs^ 
of  Nature,  and  keeps  the  elements  in  subjection  to  his  will ; ^ 
and  the  vast  barriers  between  continents  are  converted  into 
international  highways,  that  Civilization  may  spread  the 
white  wings  of  commerce  over  every  sea. 

That  creature  must  be  supremely  sluggish,  if  not  utterly  ^ 
soulless,  whose  bleared  sense  and  perverted  imagination 
would  make  the  Mind  inferior  to  the  Body  ; or  who  is 
• willing  to  entertain  the  idea  of  such  ignoble  subordination. 
But  it  is  illogical  and  preposterous  to  admit  the  superiority 
of  the  Mind,  and  yet  maintain  that  it  is  only  the  offspring 
of  our  corporeal  nature — born  and  extinguished  with  the 
animal  fires— that  the  soul  is  merely  phenomenal,  and  results 
from  the  slow  combustion  of  carbonaceous  matter,  and  the 


18 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


inevitable  action  of  air,  light,  electricity  and  other  subtile 
agents  on  a curious  organic  structure.  To  presume  that 
effects  may  be  thus  fundamentally  different  from  their 
causes  ; or,  indeed,  that  they  may  even  transcend  their 
causes,  in  degrees  that  admit  of  no  comparison,  is  simply 
absurd.  Nor  is  this  assumption  rendered  more  rational  or 
respectable  by  the  constant  misapplication  of  the  terms 
Nature,  Eeason  and  Philosophy.  And  yet  popular  Material- 
ism builds  its  earthworks  on  the  shifting  sands  of  such  in- 
congruous assumptions.  Life  and  all  human  powers  and 
capabilities  are  regarded  as  the  product  of  merely  physical 
causes,  that,  in  themselves,  possess  none  of  the  attributes  of 
intelligence,  and  no  manifest  life.  Blind  forces  may -not 
organize  and  govern  such  a world  as  this  ; lifeless  elements 
do  not  generate  and  individualize  the  vital  principle  ; and 
the  rotary  motion  of  material  particles  in  a vortex  never 
evolved  the  rational  soul.  ‘ 

It  is  no  part  of  the  design  of  this  work  to  consider  Man, 
anatomically  or  otherwise,  in  his  relation  to  the  animal 
creation  ; nor  do  I propose  to  discuss  questions  that  relate 
to  the  origin  and  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the 
different  races  and  families  of  men.  ^ Those  who  are  prone 

1 Reasoning  from  the  Cartesian  hypothesis  and  the  centrifugal  forces, 
Descartes  undertook  to  account  for  the  formation  of  the  Universe,  and  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  But  while  his  theory  was,  at  least  * 
apparently,  consistent  with  the  motions  of  the  planets — which  revolve  in 
nearly  the  same  plane— it  left  the  comets  out  to  wander,  as  usual,  in 
every  direction  through  the  fields  of  space,  regardless  alike  of  the  limits 
of  the  Cartesian  vortices  and  the  reputation  of  the  philosopher. 

2 If  the  reader  is  seeking  information  in  this  branch  of  Ethnology,  he  is 
recommended  to  peruse  the  “ Types  of  Mankind,  ” and  Lyell  on  the 
“ Antiquity  of  Man,”  if  he  has  not  done  so  already. 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


19 


to  consider  man  as  only  an  animal  endowed  with  superior 
faculties,  have  been  unable  to  discover  an  unbroken  connec- 
tion between  human  nature  and  the  superior  types  of  the 
animal  kingdom.  They  have  looked  in  vain  to  comparative 
anatomy  for  a demonstration  of  their  theory.  ^ But  if  in- 
stead of  confining  our  observations  to  the  physical  depart- 
ment of  his  complex  nature,  we  have  regard  to  moral  aspects 
and  psychological  attributes,  we  shall  readily  discover  that 
Man  is  forever  separated  from  the  whole  animal  world  by 
natural  lines  that  are  broader  and  deeper  than  any  that 
define  the  limits  of  the  other  kingdoms.  A great  gulf 
divides  the  illimitable  faculties  and  rational  reverence  of 
Man  from  the  highest  development  of  the  brute  instincts. 
Materialism,  aided  by  the  most  ingenious  sophistry,  has 
never  been  able  to  bridge  the  chasm.  The  grand  faculties 
and  achievements  which  so  distinguish  Man  from  all  inferior 
natures,  plainly  indicate  that  the  Race  constitutes  a separate 
kingdom.  In  a treatise  on  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Species 
M.  Quatrefages  says  that  “ Man  must  form  a kingdom  by 

1“  The  distribution  of  the  fossil  forms  of  Monkey,  from  which  Man  may  be 
supposed  to  claim  a genetic  relation,  entirely  baffles  our  attempts  to  as-  ^ 
sociate  the  existing  races  of  Man  with  any  of  the  species  beneath  him.” 
********** 

“ We  believe  that  all  the  higher  faculties  of  human  nature — all  the  powers 
that  make  us  Max — are  visibly  independent  of  that  mere  structural  organiza- 
tion in  which, many  of  the  animals  surpass  us.  Take  an  animal 

gifted  with  the  nicest  sensuous  faculties,  and  he  will  not  approach  in  mental 
capacity  the  lowest  of  the  human  species.  Take  a man  deprived  or  destitute 
of  all  his  senses  and  animal  powers ; there  is  still  something  in  his  capacity 
immeasurably  superior  to  the  whole  brute  creation.  There  is  the  gift  of 
articulate  language— the  power  of  numbers — the  power  of  generalization — 
the  power  of  conceiving  the  relation  of  Man  to  his  Creator — the  power  of 
foreseeing  an  immortal  destiny — the  power  of  knowing  good  from  evil  on 
eternal  principles  of  justice  and  truth.” — Edinburgh  Review,  April,  1863. 


20 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


himself,  if  once  we  permit  his  moral  and  intellectual  endow- 
ments to  have  their  due  weight  in  classification.”* 

In  liis  interior  being  man  presents  an  organic  and  beau- 
tiful union  of  many  noble  faculties  and  affections,  all  having 
a common  center  in  the  individual  consciousness  ; while 
the  body  is  a delicate  corporeal  machine  or  instrument,  with 
particular  organs  corresponding  to  the  several  faculties  of 
the  mind  or  spirit,  each  organ  being  adapted  to  specific 
functions  of  being.  Through  this  complex  organism  the  in-  '! 
telligent  Soul  sustains  intimate  and  vital  relations  to  the 
elements  and  forms  of  the  Physical  World.  Thus  the  im-  i 
mortal  powers  of  our  spiritual  being  all  meet,  unite,  and 
center  in  consciousness  ; at  the  same  time,  their  mundane  , 
instruments  belong  to  the  ‘body,  and  have  their  organic 
center  in  the  brain  ; while  the  movements  of  the  spirit,  as 
revealed  by  its  action  on  and  through  the  body,  may  be  ap- 
propriately denominated  the  organic  functions.  ; 

So  intimate  is  the  relation  between  the  body  and  mind 
that  they  act  reciprocally  and  powerfully  on  each  other. 
Especially  does  the  mind  exert  a mighty  influence,  for  weal 
or  woe,  over  the  body.  The  mental  and  vital  action  are  so 
inseparable  that  every  silent  emotion  and  unspoken  thought 
leaves  an  image — dim  and  shadowy  it  may  be — on  the  or- 
ganic structure.  The  vital  fluids  flow  fast  or  slow,  as  tlie 
mind  is  excited,  or  is  permitted  to  repose.  The  great 
thoughts  of  the  poet  and  the  orator  quicken  the  blood  in 
their  veins,  and  accelerate  the  pulsation  in  millions  of 
human  bosoms.  The  heart  of  the  poor  exile  leaps  at  the 
thought  of  his  country  and  the  memory  of  his  home.  The 


1 “ Antiquity  of  Man,”  page  495. 


THE  TENANT  AND  THE  HOUSE. 


21 


patriotic  deed,  and  word,  and  thought  even,  strike  the 
chords  of  life  till  they  vibrate  with  a strange  and  ungovern- 
able energy.  This  relation  of  mental  t3  vital  motion  must . 
be  understood,  if  we  desire  to  render  health  more  secure, 
and  life  a more  certain  possession.  Physiology  and  Anat- 
omy, as  hitherto  taught^in  the  schools,  only  present  us  with 
tlie  outward  structure,  without  the  inward  light  that  reveals 
the  mysteries  of  the  temple. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  the  importance  of  the  present  in- 
quiry is  in  no  degree  diminished  by  the  obscurity  that  over- 
shadows the  ultimate  spring  of  life  and  thought.  Rather  is 
this  an  element  in  the  strange  and  peculiar  interest  that 
belongs  to  the  theme.  Moreover,  the  .mysteries  of  human 
nature  are  not  all  inscrutable,  and  we  may  yet  learn  far 
more  of  ourselves  than  is  contained  in  the  catechism,  or 
taught  in  the  schools  of  modern  science.  And  while  I shall 
not  attempt,  in  this  treatise,  a nice  anatomical  dissection  of 
the  human  mind — with  a view  to  those  subtile  and  technical 
distinctions  which  the  learned  and  deeply  metaphysical  in- 
quirer might  be  pleased  to  recognize — I shall,  on  the  con- 
trary, without  descending  to  the  lower  level  of  the  unedu- 
cated intellect,  aim  to  present  my  subject  in  a clear  light  to 
the  common  comprehension.  In  the  prosecution  of  this 
work,  I shall  regard  the  distinctions  of  the  metaphysi- 
cians, ancient  and  modern,  only  so  far  as  they  appear  to 
accord  with  the  laws  of  Nature  and  the  light  of  a scientific 
philosophy.  It  were  better  to  lose  our  way,  occasionally, 
in  the  great  Unknown,  and  to  take  some  useless  steps  in 
our  exploration,  than  with  unquestioning  faith  and  mechan- 
ical precision  to  follow  every  blind  guide. 


CHAPTER  n. 


ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOYERIES. 


Importance  of  the  Subject — ^Agency  of  Vital  Electricity  in  the  Organic 
Functions— Researches  of  European  Philosophers — Galvani — Volta — Al- 
dini — Nobili — Matteucci — Humboldt — Emil  du  Bois-Reymond — Professor 
Buff — Alfred  Smee — Mesmer — Decree  of  the  French  Academy — Distin- 
guished Disciples — Triumph  of  Truth  over  Skepticism — Deleuze — T-own- 
shend — Georget — M.  Foissac — M.  Bertrand — ^Mialle — Baron  Dupotet — Dr. 
Elliotson — Dr.  Ashburner  and  Dr.  Esdaile — Homogeneousness  of  the 
Nervous  and  the  Electric  Principles — ^Value  of  the  Discovery  to  the  Phy- 
siological Investigator  and  to  Science. 


MONG  the  various  departments  of  scientific  inquiry, 


that  which  comprehends  the  laws  of  vital  motion,  sensa- 
tion, and  thought,  is,  perhaps,  of  paramount  importance,  in- 
asmuch as  it  most  intimately  concerns  the  nature  and  preser- 
vation of  human  health  and  life.  Critical  observation  and 
profound  thought  are  indispensable  to  success  in  this  depart- 
ment, and  it  must  be  confessed  that  few  persons  in  this 
country  have  attempted  the  investigation  in  a scientific 
spirit.  The  subject  has,  however,  engaged  some  of  the  no- 
blest minds  in  Europe,  and  we  are  permitted  to  anticipat 
the  solution  of  its  greatest  problems. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  the  simple  anatomy  and 
physiology  of  the  human  body,  for  the  reason  that  tliose  of 
my  readers  who  may  be  in  need  of  information  in  that  de- 


ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES. 


23 


partment  will  find  what  they  require  in  the  numerous  scien- 
tific treatises  already  extant.  But  it  will  be  proper  in  this 
place  to  speak  briefly  of  the  connecting  medium  between  the 
Body  and  the  Mind.  The  sublimated  aura  that  pervades 
the  brain  and  nervous  system,  and  which  is  doubtless  the 
proximate  cause  of  all  vital  and  voluntary  motion  and  sensa- 
tion, is  electrical  in  its  nature.  While  Animal  Electricity  is 
the  immediate  agent  in  the  production  of  all  chemical 
changes  that  occur  in  living  bodies,  it  is  no  less  true  that 
the  agent  itself  is  generated  in  all  the  processes  of  vital 
chemistry.  The  same  subtile  element  is  disengaged  in  all 
muscular  motion,  as  has  been  demonstrated  by  a variety  of 
scientific  experiments,  some  of  which  I will  briefly  notice, 
as  they  will  aid  in  the  further  elucidation  of  my  subject. 

It  is  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  furnish  a concise  his 
tory  of  the  researches  and  discoveries  in  Vital  Electricity 
and  Magnetism,  without  which  the  present  treatise  would  be 
incomplete.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  last  centuiy  Galvan  I, 
a distinguished  anatomist  and  physiologist  of  the  Bologna 
school,  and  the  celebrated  Italian  philosopher  Volta,  made 
numerous  experiments  with  a view  to  illustrate  the  influence 
of  galvanic  electricity  on  ih.Q  nerves  and  muscles  of  certain 
animals.  The  former  discovered  this  agent,  and  the  latter 
invented  instruments  for  generating  and  directing  it  to 
scientific  and  other  practical  purposes.  On  this  account  the 
gent  has  been  generally  known  as  Galvanism,  and  the  in 
struments  as  Voltaic  apparatus.  It  was  especially  in  the 
autumn  of  1786  that  Galvani's  experiments,  in  producing 
muscular  contractions  by  electrical  currents,  began  to  assume 
a profound  significance.  In  1791  he  published  his  cele- 


24 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


brated  Commentary,  which  produced  an  intense  commotion 
among  pliysicians,  physiologists,  and  philosophers  through- 
out all  Europe,  and  led  to  much  speculation  respecting  the 
origin  of  nervous  diseases,  and  the  nature  of  the  vital  prin- 
ciple. But  as  metallic  rods  and  other  instruments  had  been 
employed  in  Galvani’s  experiments,  Volta  contendeci  that 
the  phenomena  did  not  result  from  the  presence  of  animal 
electricity,  but  that  the  muscular  contractions  were  caused 
by  a heterogeneous  combination  of  metallic  substances.  To 
meet  this  objection,  Galvani  pursued  his  experiments  until 
he  obtained  the  same  results  without  the  intervention  of 
metals,  and  thus  demonstrated,  apparently  at  least,  the  exis- 
tence of  animal  electricity  and  its  probable  agency  in  all 
vital  phenomena. 

A bitter  controversy  ensued  ; V olta  seemed  likely  to  sub- 
vert the  claims  of  his  rival,  when  Humboldt  published  his 
work,  entitled,  “ Experiments  on  Stimulated  Nervous  and 
Muscular  Fibers,’’  etc.,  in  which  he  favored  the  position  of 
Galvani.  At  length,  near  the  close  of  1799,  the  Italian 
philosopher  made  the  discovery  of  the  Voltaic  hattery,  which 
secured  for  his  opinions  a rapid  triumph.  Nothing  further 
appeared  in  support  of  Galvani’s  theory  of  animal  elec- 
tricity, save  an  essay  by  his  nephew  Aldini,  wherein  the 
author  recorded  the  results  of  many  useless  experiments, 
and  attempted  to  appropriate  to  himself  the  honor  of  his 
uncle’s  discoveries.  Aldini’s  work  was  published  in  French, 
in  1804,  after  which  no  particular  attention  was  paid  to  the 
subject  for  nearly  a quarter  of  a century.  In  1827,  Nobili 
made  a grand  improvement  in  the  galvanometer,  and  demon 
strated  more  clearly  than  his  predecessors  had  done,  the  ex- 


electro-physiolouical  discoveries.  2o 

istcnce  of  the  electro-magnetic  current  in  the  frog.  Mat- 
teucci  experimented  on  the  frog  and  the  torpedo,  and  soon 
attracted  more  general  attention  to  these  phenomena.  The 
credit  of  having  made  the  first  really  demonstrative  experi- 
ments in  this  department  is  usually  given  to  the  author  of 
the  “ Physical  Phenomena  of  Living  Beings.”  He  forced 
the  points  of  small  needles  into  the  muscles  of  living  ani- 
mals, and  then  connected  their  opposite  ends  with  the  poles 
of  a very  sensitive  galvanometer.  When  the  animal  moved 
the  muscle,  it  was  observed  that  the  needle  of  the  instru- 
ment was  deflected,  thus  showing  the  presence  and  passage 
of  an  electric  current  simultaneously  with  the  muscular  con- 
traction. 

The  experiments  of  Galvani  and  others,  in  causing  mus- 
cular contractions  by  electricity,  artificially  generated  and 
applied  to  the  limbs  of  frogs,  and  the  muscles  of  other  life- 
less animals,  seemed  to  afford  significant  suggestions  respect- 
ing the  homogeneous  properties  and  effects  of  electricity  and 
the  nervous  fluid.  The  observations  of  the  scientific  investi- 
gators who  preceded  him,  and  especially  those  of  Matteucci, 
furnished  a starting-point  for  Emil  du  Bois-Beymond,  of  the 
Berlin  Academy,  who  constructed  still  more  perfect  appara- 
tus, which  enabled  him  to  discover  not  only  the  muscular 
current  in  the  inferior  animals,  but  in  the  living  Man.  The 
variation  of  the  current  by  volition^  in  the  act  of  muscular 
contraction,  was  also  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  experi 
ments  of  du  Bois-Reymond,  who  described  his  modus  ope- 
randi  and  the  specific  results,  in  a letter  to  Baron  Hum- 
boldt, and  in  a statement  communicated  to  the  French 


26 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Academy.  ’ Reymond’s  mode  of  conducting  the  experiments 
in  Yital  Electricity  will  doubtless  interest  the  reader  : 
Taking  two  homogeneous  pieces  of  platina,  he  immersed  one 
end  of  each  in  a solution  of  common  salt,  contained  in  two 
cups,  and  then  connected  the  opposite  ends  of  the  platina 
strips  with  the  needle  of  his  galvanometer.  Having  ar- 
ranged his  apparatus,  he  plunged  the  index  finger  of  each 
hand  into  the  solution  contained  in  the  two  vessels,  where- 
upon he  observed  a slight  deviation  of  the  needle  of  his 
instrument.  By  alternately  concentrating  the  will  on  the 
two  arms,  and  thus  timing  the  muscular  contractions,  the 
most  decided  oscillations  were  produced. 

Humboldt  repeated  Raymond's  experiment,  and  confirmed 
(in  fact  and  in  the  judgment  of  the  scientific  world)  the 
result,  by  his  success  and  the  weight  of  his  powerful  testi- 
mony. Subsequently  Prof.  Buff,  of  G-iessen,  experimented 
with  still  more  extraordinary  results.  Having  joined  the 
hands  of  sixteen  persons,  he  caused  the  individuals  at  the 
extremities  of  the  line  to  complete  the  circuit  by  each  dip- 
ping the  hand  that  was  disengagd  into  the  contents  of  one  of 
the  cups.  The  cuticle — on  the  hands  of  the  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  experiment — having  been  previously  moistened, 
opposed  no  resistance  to  a free  circulation  of  the  subtile 
element.  Accordingly,  when — at  a word — every  person  in 
the  circuit — in  regular  alternation — contracted  the  mus- 
cles of  the  right  and  left  arm,  the  galvanic  needle  was  pow- 
erfully moved,  in  opposite  directions,  and  to  the  extent  ot 
not  less  than  fifty  degrees.  These  results  have  been  further 

1 Annales  de  Chimie  ct  dc  Physique,  3me  sdrie,  t.  xxx. 


ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES. 


27 


corroborated  by  the  experiments  and  observations  of  Alfred 
Smee  of  London,  the  present  writer,  and  others,  and  they 
plainly  show  that  an  electro-motive  'power  pervades  the  ifierves 
and  muscles  of  all  animal  bodies  d This  agent  is  continually 
disengaged  or  evolved  in  the  subtile  processes  of  animal 
cliemistry,  and  we  have  valid  reasons  for  the  opinion  that 
it  is  the  chief  agent  in  all  vital  and  voluntary  motion  and 
sensation. 

Phenomena  of  a very  different  kind,  yet  manifestly  depend-* 
ing  more  or  less  on  the  distribution  and  modified  action  of 
the  same  vital  motive  power — in  other  words,  on  vital  elec- 
tricity and  the  electro-magnetic  conditions  of  the  several 
c rgans — attracted  the  attention  of  other  minds,  and  led  to 
curious  and  important  discoveries.  As  early  as  1774,  F. 
Antoine  Mesmer,  a member  of  the  Medical  Faculty  of  Vi- 
enna, succeeded  not  only  in  reducing  the  novel  processes 
and  mysterious  results  of  Animal  Magnetism  to  something 
like  a scientific  formula,  but  in  his  own  extensive  practice 
he  found  numerous  opportunities  to  test  its  value  as  an  aux- 
iliary of  medicine.  The  success  of  Mesmer,  and  the  singular 
power  of  this  new  remedial  agent  exeited,  among  the  Faculty 
of  Paris,  a spirit  of  jealousy  and  resentment,  which  was 
soon  manifested  through  the  Royal  Medical  Academy.  An 
arbitrary  degree  was  issued,  declaring  the  use  of  Animal 
Magnetism  unprofessional  and  injurious,  and  making  expulsion 
from  that  institution  the  penalty  for  advocating  its  claims. 
In  1784  the  committee  appointed  by  the  French  Academy  to 
examine  the  subject,  having  failed  to  see,  feel,  taste,  smell. 


1 See  Dr.  du  Bois-Reymond,  “ On  Animal  Electricity,”  also,  Smee’s  “ Elec- 
tro-Biology.” Q 


28 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


measure  or  weigh  the  subtile,  miracle-working  fluid  which 
Mesmer  had  supposed  to  exist,  reported  that  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  Animal  Magnetism.  But  tlic  facts  continued 
to  occur,  and  to  command  attention  in  different  parts  of 
Europe.  Cuvier,  Laplace,  Humboldt,  Coleridge,  Dugald 
Stewart  and  many  other  distinguished  names,  became  identi- 
fied with  the  new  science.  In  1831  its  claims  to  a place 
among  the  accredited  sciences  were  duly  acknowledged  in 
the  report  of  the  scientific  commission  appointed,  if  we  mis- 
take not,  in  1825.  Skepticism  reluctantly  gave  up  the 
ghost.  The  invisible  pain-destroying  agent  was  admitted  into 
the  hospitals  of  Paris  and  London,  and  a Professorship  of 
Animal  Magnetism  was  established  in  the  Medical  Colleg  3 
of  Berlin.^ 

1 

Several  noted  experimenters  and  authors  appeared  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Europe,  and  the  phenomena  of  the  magnetic 
state  were  widely  and  critically  observed.  Rev.  Chauncey 
Hare  Townshend,  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  pursued  the 
subject  experimentally  with  great  earnestness,  and  finally 
published  his  work,  entitled  “ Facts  in  Mesmerism,’^  about  the 
beginning  of  1840.  During  his  investigations  he  had  an  op- 
portunity to  witness  the  effects  of  the  magnetic  process  on 
many  persons  in  England ; also  at  Rome,  Naples,  and  else- 
where ; and  among  his  subjects  were  Signor  Ranieri,  the 
historian.  Professor  Agassiz,  and  other  eminent  persons. 

1 The  discoveries  of  Mesmer,  and  his  dexterous  use  of  the  mysterious 
power,  gave  him  an  enviable  position  and  a commanding  influence.  He  had 
many  distinguished  pupils  in  Paris,  received  large  sums  for  his  course  of  in- 
struction, and  was  professionally  employed  by  the  principal  nobles  at  the 
Court  of  Louis  XVI. 


ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  29 

But  there  were  others  in  this  field  who  are  not  to  be  for- 
p;otten.  For  nearly  forty  years  M.  Deleuze,  a French  prac- 
titioner and  a most  conscientious  man,  was  engaged  in  the 
experimental  illustration  of  the  powers  and  uses  of  Animal 
Magnetism.  Deleuze  confined  his  experiments,  with  rare  ex- 
ceptions, to  invalids,  and  the  results  of  his  protracted  experi- 
ence have  been  given  to  the  public.  Several  other  authors 
have  likewise  placed  us  under  obligations  for  important 
contributions  to  the  sum  of  scientific  and  popular  informa- 
tion on  this  interesting  subject.  Georget,  in  a treatise 
entitled  ^^Pliysiologie  du  SysUme  Nerveux^^^  mentions  the  re- 
sult of  certain  experiments  in  this  species  of  magnetism,  by 
wliich  he  seemed  to  impart  some  new  properties  to  water. 
When  highly  sensitive  persons  tasted  the  water,  they  could 
readily  distinguish  it  from  that  which  had  not  been  subjected 
to  the  process.  M.  Foissac  manipulated  liquids  in  a similai* 
manner,  and  Paul  Yillagrand,  a somnambulist,  would  at 
once  detect  the  presence  of  the  magnetic  influence  by  the 
sense  of  taste.  M.  Bertrand  and  others  effected  cures  by 
the  use  of  magnetized  water,  and  M.  Mialle,  who  at  one  time 
could  find  no  repose  on  account  of  some  painful  indisposition, 
assures  us  that  a piece  of  magnetized  glass,  which  he  placed 
on  his  chest — on  retiring  for  the  night — had  the  effect  to 
greatly  modify  his  symptoms,  and  to  induce  the  presence  of 

“ Tired  nature’s  sweet  restorer,  balmy  Sleep.”  i 

Among  the  practical  operators  in  Animal  Magnetism  and 
the  earnest  defenders  of  its  claims,  the  Baron  Dupotet,  Dr. 


‘ See  Dr.  Alphonse  Teste’s  Manuel  Pratique  de  Magndtisme  Animal.  Lon- 
don edition,  pp.  208-210. 


30 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Elliotson  and  Dr.  Ashburner  have  lon^  been  distinguished. 
But  no  man  has  made  a more  beneficent  use  of  this  agent 
than  Dr.  James  Esdaile,  who  was  employed  in  a professional 
capacity  by  the  British  East  India  Company.  His  unrivaled 
success  among  the  people  of  Bengal,  is  doubtless  in  a great 
measure  to  be  ascribed  to  his  own  personal  energy,  superior 
skill  in  his  profession,  and  to  the  benevolent  impulses  and 
aspirations  of  his  heart.  Dr.  Esdaile  found  the  natives  of 
that  country  extremely  susceptible  of  this  magnetic  influence, 
and  in  his  efforts  to  meliorate  their  condition  he  permitted 
no  occasion  to  pass  unimproved.  His  surgical  operations, 
were  generally  performed  while  the  patients  were  in  the  magt 
netic  trance.  Notwithstanding  many  of  these  operations! 
were  extremely  difficult,  and  such  as  are  usually  attended 
with  intense  pain.  Dr.  Esdaile’s  patients  were  all  the  while) 
in  an  unconscious  state,  and  of  course  incapable  of  suffering. 
Indeed,  so  effectually  were  his  subjects  bound,  that  not  a 
nerve  quivered  under  the  knife,  nor  was  a single  muscle  con- 
vulsed by  the  burning  iron  in  the  process  of  actual  cautery. 
The  coma  in  some  cases  continued  for  hours  after  the  opera- 
tion was  completed,  and  when  the  patient  awoke  he  was 
generally  free  from  pain,  and  oblivious  of  what  had  trans- 
pired.^ 

Among  the  American  practitioners  in  this  department, 
who  have  occupied  the  largest  share  of  public  attention.  Dr. 
John  B.  Dods  and  Laroy  Sunderland  have  published  small 
treatises  illustrative  of  their  peculiar  views,  and  the  modes 
they  respectively  adopted  in  their  experiments.  Dr.  S.  S. 

See  “ Mesmerism  in  India,  and  its  practical  application  in  Surgery  and 
Medicine  by  James  Esdaile,  M.  D. 


ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES. 


31 


lijon,  and  many  other  respectable  physicians,  have  employed 
Magnetism  as  a remedial  agent,  and  as  an  auxiliary  in  their 
pathological  investigations.  The  experimenters  who  have 
been  attracted  by  the  novelty  of  the  subject,  or  from  mer- 
cenary motives,  have  been  very  numerous,  but  they  shall  be 
nameless  in  this  connection.  With  rare  exceptions  their 
investigations  have  been  exceedingly  superficial.  Indeed, 
Science  has  nothing  to  expect  from  men  who  have  a para- 
mount regard  for  money,  and  whose  only  aim  has  been  to 
make  an  amusing  and  remunerative  public  exhibition.  Such 
men  have  a passion  for  masquerade,  and  never  hesitate  to 
play  the.  harlequin  in  the  abused  name  of  Science,  when  a 
promising  engagement  is  offered.  The  remarkable  success 
which  has  attended  the  professional  career  of  Professor 
Grimes,  doubtless  entitles  that  gentleman  to  the  distinction 
of  leading  the  nondescript  army  of  fantastics,  who  make 
grave  subjects  ridiculous,  and  even  sacred  things  disre- 
putable. 

A few  years  since,  a great  number  of  magnetic  and 
psychological  doctors — after  pursuing  their  studies  for  a few 
hours — went  forth  to  enlighten  the  public  respecting  the 
mysteries  of  “Electro-psychology,”  “Biology,”  and  other 
kindred  subjects.  It  must  be  admitted  that  they  secured 
general  attention,  and  prompted  an  examination  of  a variety 
of  significant  and  important  phenomena.  While  their  pre- 
tended explanations  were  generally  crude  and  wholly  unsat- 
isfactory, it  is  doubtless  true  that  their  experiments  often 
prepared  the  way  for  subsequent  inquiries  and  enlightened 
convictions. 

I have  had  occasion  to  observe  that  Vital  Electricity  is 


32 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  immediate  agent  in  the  production  of  all  motion  and 
sensation  in  animal  and  human  bodies.  Hence,  the  varied 
and  remarkable  phenomena,  developed  in  the  magnetic  states 
of  the  system,  must  depend  on  the  power  of  the  operator  to 
influence  the  nervous  circulation  or  to  control  the  distribution 
of  vital  electricity.  The  discovery  of  the  homogeneousness 
of  the  nervous  and  the  electric  power  is  one  of  great  impor- 
tance to  science,  and  especially  to  the  physiological  inquirer. 
It  lights  up  the  outward  temple  of  our  being  ; it  will  aid  us 
in  solving  the  problem  involved  in  the  circulation  of  the 
animal  fluids  ; it  suggests  a rational  philosophy  of  sensation, 
and  opens  the  way  to  a clearer  and  more  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  organic  action  and  vital  harmony, 
In  the  light  of  this  discovery  we  shall  hereafter  survey  the 
outer  courts  of  the  temple,  and  then  do  what  we  may  to 
guide  the  mind  of  the  thoughtful  and  reverent  inquirer 
toward  the  inner  sanctuary  of  his  being. 


CHiPTER  III. 


CIRCULATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS. 

Defects  of  the  Accredited  System — ^Facts  in  Physiological  Science — Amazing 
Forces  and  Complicated  Fnnctions^Agency  of  Electricity  in  the  Circula- 
tion of  the  Blood  Reference  to  Alfred  Smee’s  Work— The  Electrical 
Fishes— Observations  of  Humboldt  and  Prof.  Beckeinsteiner— Demonstra- 
tive Experiment  at  Saratoga — Generation  of  Vital  Heat  by  Electric  action 
— Cause  of  Change  in  the  Color  of  the  Blood, 

PHYSIOLOGY,  as  explained  in  the  class  books  and  taught 
in  schools,  furnishes  no  scientific  philosophy  of  the  Yital 
Functions.  Whilst  the  anatomist  maps  out  the  osseous, 
fibrous,  nervous  and  circulatory  systems,  and  exhibits  their 
organic  relations  and  mutual  dependencies,  the  physiologist 
contributes  his  descriptive  and  technical  disquisitions  on 
their  respective  functions ; all  of  which — with  the  current 
knowledge  of  vital  chemistry — is  insufficient  to  satisfy  the 
reasonable  demands  of  the  fearless  and  philosophical  in- 
quirer. If  the  writer  may  not  hope  to  dissipate  the  darkness 
that  obscures  the  way  to  this  temple  of  mystery,  he  will  at 
least  venture  to  diverge  from  the  beaten  track. 

It  is  ascertained  that  a well-developed  human  body  con 
tains  about  twenty-eight  pounds  of  blood,  which,  by  a most 
perfect  hydraulic  process,  is  conveyed  from  the  heart  to  the 
extremities  at  the  rate  of  about  three  thousand  gallons  in 


34 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


twenty-four  hours  ; while,  in  every  year  of  our  lives,  not 
much  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  cubic  feet  of  atmo- 
spheric air — passing  through  the  six  hundred  millions  of  air 
cells  in  the  lungs — are  required  to  fan  the  vital  fires.  The 
force  necessary  to  produce  the  organic  action  and  to  carry 
on  the  circulation  in  such  a body,  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  fifteen  to  fifty  tons.  The  attempts  to  eject  fluids 
into  the  channels  of  the  circulation — either  in  the  living  or 
the  lifeless  subject — with  other  imperfect  experiments  of  the 
Faculty,  scarcely  enable  us  to  form  anything  like  an  accurate 
judgment  on  a question  of  this  nature.  That  an  immense 
power  is  required  to  raise  all  the  valves,  and  to  force  the 
blood  to  the  minute  and  remote  terminations  of  the  capilla-; 
ries  must  be  obvious  to  the  truly  scientific  observer.  If,^ 
however,  we  adopt  as  our  standard  the  minimum  number,  i 
and  estimate  the  vital  force  at  fifteen  tons,  we  shall  still  be^ 
startled  and  half  inclined  to  dispute  the  credibility  of  oui 
own  conclusions. 

The  first  suggestion  is,  that  the  human  frame  is  too  frail  to 
resist  or  endure  the  action  of  such  an  internal  force.  But 
it  is  an  accredited  fact  in  science  that  every  square  inch  of 
the  external  surface  of  the  body  sustains  a column  of  air 
forty-five  miles  high,  the  weight  of  which  is  ascertained  to 
be  fourteen  pounds.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  whole  body 
supports  the  enormous  weight  of  more  than  30,000  pounds  I 
The  reason  why  this  does  not  cause  an  instantaneous 
collapse,  at  once  extinguishing  the  life  of  the  body,  is  because 
the  inside  resistance  of  the  electric  forces  and  clastic 
(iuids  precisely  counterbalances  the  external  atrnosplicric 
[)ressure.  When  tlic  body  is  thus  acted  on  by  opposite  forces 


CIRCULATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS. 


35 


in  equilihrio^  we  are  insensible  of  their  presence.  Moreover, 
this  amazing  force  of  fifteen  tons,  moving  within  the  vital 
precincts,  is  so  equally  distributed,  and  applied  with  such 
precision  to  the  different  parts  of  the  organization,  that  we 
are  quite  unconscious  of  its  exercise.  We  even  rest  quietly 
with  an  electric  engine  of  not  less  than  one  horse  power  at 
work  between  our  ribs  ; at  the  same  time  a chemical  labor- 
atory— in  some  sense  as  extensive  as  Nature — is  all  the  while 
in  full  operation  within,  and  yet  we  are  only  disturbed  when 
from  some  cause  the  work  is  partially  suspended.  Those 
suction  and  forcing  pumps — that  drive  the  vital  fluids 
through  innumerable  channels  in  the  mother’s  breast,  at  the 
rate  of  some  15,000  hogsheads  per  annum — all  operate  so 
noiselessly  that  the  little  child  sleeps  peacefully  on  her 
bosom  while  the  vital  tide  flows  close  by  its  ear.  The 
tenant  of  the  house  has  also  a telegraphic  apparatus  that 
connects  him  with  every  department  of  the  external  world, 
and  an  inherent  active  power  that  destroys  and  rebuilds  his 
whole  establishment  once  in  about  seven  years — and  all  of 
these  complicated  forces  and  functions  are  organically  com- 
bined and  exercised  in  a space  two  feet  by  six  ! 

A power  so  vast  and  functions  so  delicate,  complicated 
and  wonderful,  must  be  referred  to  adequate  causes  ; and 
here  our  physiology  is  at  fault.  The  teachers  of  the  science 
leave  the  beautiful  temple  of  the  soul  in  darkness.  Viewed' 
in  its  external  aspects,  and  from  the  position  occupied  by^ 
accredited  science,  the  light  on  the  altar  is  nothing  more  than 
the  combustion  of  carbonaceous  matter,  while  there  is  no 
divinity  at  the  inner  shrine.  Science  has  faith  in  tlie  reality 
of  so  much  of  human  nature  as  can  be  seen  and  handled, 


36 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


dissected,  weighed,  and  put  in  a crucible.  Beyond  this  it  is 
faithless,  and  many  of  its  professed  friends  resort  to  various 
shifts  and  quibbles  to  conceal  their  ignorance. 

For  illustration  : The  course  of  the  blood — as  it  flows 
from  the  heart  to  the  extremities  and  returns — is  clearly 
enough  defined  ; but  when  we  ask  for  the  cause  of  this  cease- 
less motion,  we  are  perhaps  gravely  informed  that  the  heart 
contracts  and  dilates  in  regular  alternation,  and  that  with 
each  succeeding  pulsation  tlie  blood  is  forced  out  and 
propelled  to  the  remotest  points  of  capillary  action,  from 
which  it  returns  through  the  venous  system  to  the  heart.  * 
But  when  we  push  our  inquiries,  and  demand  to  know  what 
causes  the  heart  to  contract  and  dilate  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed, we  may  be  told  by  some  physiological  Solomon,  who 
is  content  to  travel  round  in  a circle,  that  it  may  be,  or  must 
ht,  the  exciting  quality  and  action  of  the  blood  on  the  nerves 
of  involuntary  motion.  Thus  the  heart  is  made  to  move  th  ^ 
blood  while  the  blood  moves  the  heart,  and  alleged  causes 
are  taken  for  effects,  and  effects  for  causes  ad  lihitwn,  to  suit 
the  convenience  of  our  blind  guides; 

The  vital  electricity  generated  and  evolved  in  all  the  pro- 
cesses of  human  and  animal  bodies,  is  an  indispensable  agent 
in  the  functions  of  life,  motion,  and  sensation.  It  is,  in  fact, 
the  motive  'power  of  the  system  on  which  the  organic  move- 
ment constantly  depends.  Without  the  action  of  electro- 
nervous  forces,  proceeding  from  the  brain  as  their  chief  phy 
sical  center,  we  have  no  proximate  cause  adequate  to  account 
for  the  distribution  of  the  animal  fluids.  In  the  first  cha])ter 

1 Tlic  quantity  of  blood  bxpollod  from  tlie  heart  at  each  contraction  does 
not  ordinarily  exceed  two  ounces. 


CIRCUIiATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS.  37 

it  was  made  evident  by  the  proofs  of  experimental  science, 
that  voluntary  muscular  motion  depends  on  the  transmission 
of  electric  currents  from  the  brain.  If  the  evidence  be  con- 
clusive with  respect  to  all  voluntary  motion,  it  is  scarcely 
less  so  in  its  application  to  the  involuntary  functions. 
These  surely  can  not  be  presumed  to  depend  on  some  other 
agent.  The  heart  is  a muscle,  or  bundle  of  compact  fibers, 
possessing  strong  contractile  powers,  and  its  functions  ob- 
viously depend  on  the  same  agent  that  moves  the  extensor 
contmunis  digitorum,  and  all  the  voluntary  muscles  in  the 
body. 

The  electric  force  from  the  brain  is  sent  to  the  heart  by 
branches  of  the  eighth  and  great  intercostal  pairs  of  nerves  ; 
thence  over  the  lines  by  which  the  nervous  energy  is  distri- 
buted along  the  arterial  channels,  to  be  diffused  among  the 
capillary  termini,  where  the  nutritive  elements  in  the  blood 
are  deposited  to  repair  the  gradual  waste  of  the  body.  The 
arteries  also  have  their  fibrous  coatings  or  elastic  tissue,  the 
distension  and  contraction  of  which  is  but  the  continuation 
ol  the  involuntary  muscular  motion  commencing  in  the  ven- 
tricles. The  electric  quality  of  the  blood,  acquired  by  its 
contact  with  atmospheric  electricity  in  the  lungs,  and  the 
force  thereby  communicated  to  the  arterial  circulation,  being 
at  length  expended  in  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  subtile  prin- 
ciple, the  blood  returns  through  the  vence  cavce  to  the  heart, 
in  obedience  to  the  natural  and  irresistible  force  whereby 
electrically  positive  and  negative  bodies  and  their  elemental 
constituents  are  everywhere  attracted.  The  whole  organic 
action  and  the  distribution  of  the  fluids  is  ibus  perceived  to 
depend  on  the  presence  and  power  of  vital  voltaic  currents. 


38 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Alfred  Smee,  F.  R.  S.,  in  his  valuable  works  on  “ Electro- 
Biology”  and  “ Instinct  and  Reason,”  has  furnished  impor- 
tant illustrations  of  my  subject,  contained  in  many  instructive 
observations  and  convincing  experiments.  He  has  shown 
that  the  organs  of  sensation  and  motion,  in  animal  and 
human  bodies,  are  arranged  on  voltaic  principles,  and  that 
their  respective  functions  are  governed  by  electrical  laws, 
as  modified  by  the  powers  of  life,  sensation,  and  intelligence. 
1 extract  the  following  paragraph  : 

“ In  all  cases  of  sensation  the  impression  is  carried  to  the  brain  through 
the  nervous  fibers,  by  means  of  a voltaic  current.  The  nervous  fibers  con 
sist  of  tubes,  like  those  of  gutta  percha,  containing  a fiuid.  The  mode  bj' 
which  insulation  is  accomplished  is  somewhat  curious.  The  nerve-tubes 
consist  of  a membrane  which  is  of  itself  a conductor  of  electricity.  The 
inside  of  this  membrane,  however,  is  lined  with  a layer  of  fat,  which  is  an 
absolute  non-conductor  of  electricity.  In  the  interior  of  the  fat  there  is  a 
fiuid  through  which  the  electricity  passes.  An  entire  nerve  consists  of  a , 
number  of  these  primitive  fibrils  arranged  together ; and  the  whole  forms 
a series  of  communication  precisely  similar  to  the  wires  which  are  placed 
along  the  lines  of  railroads,  to  convey  intelligence  from  station  to  station.” — 
Instinct  and  Reason,  page  41. 

That  electricity  is  everywhere  employed  in  the  develop- 
ment of  vital  and  muscular  motion,  and  that  it  is  the  opera- 
tive agent  in  all  the  processes  of  animal  chemistry,  may  be 
further  illustrated  by  a citation  of  facts.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  Silurus,  the  Torpedo,  and  the  Gymnotus,  arc  organ- 
ized with  a kind  of  electrical  battery,  which  for  self-preserva- 
tion, and  for  the  purpose  of  securing  their  prey,  they  dis- 
charge in  such  a manner  as  to  give  a violent  shock  to  the 
nervous  systems  of  other  animals.  Though  this  power  of 


CIRCULATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS. 


39 


the  electrical  fishes  was  noticed  as  early  as  the  time  of  Pliny 
and  Aristotle,  it  remained  for  modern  scientific  investigators 
to  discover  and  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  agent  that  pro- 
duced the  benumbing  sensations.  Humboldt  testifies  that 
when  he  was  traveling  in  South  America,  horses  were  pros- 
trated in  his  presence  by  the  Gymnotus,  and  that  he  also  suf- 
fered severe  pain  in  his  own  limbs,  for  several  hours,  in  con- 
sequence of  having  accidentally  set  his  foot  on  one  immedi- 
ately after  it  was  taken  from  the  water.  The  structure,  ar- 
rangement, and  operation  of  the  vital  batteries  in  these 
fishes  have  been  carefully  examined  by  several  modern  phil- 
osophers. It  is  ascertained  that  in  a single  electrical  organ 
of  the  Gymnotus,  there  are  some  twelve  hundred  cells,  all 
connected  by  nervous  channels  of  communication.  These 
are  the  receptacles  of  the  electric  force.  The  resemblance 
of  the  cells  in  these  fishes  to  small  vesicular  organs  existing 
throughout  animated  nature — united  by  nerves  and  secreting 
mucus — was  observed  by  Prof.  Beckeinsteiner,  of  Lyons. 
These  are  plainly  discoverable  in  almost  all  animals.  More- 
over, in  Man  they  are  found  to  be  most  developed  in  indi- 
viduals who  possess  the  greatest  activity  and  strength,  and 
at  the  season  of  complete  maturity,  while  in  old  age  they 
are  diminished  in  size  and  deficient  in  moisture.  All  this  is 
confirmed  by  the  well-known  fact,  that  the  magnetic  powers 
of  the  operator  are  diminished  in  proportion  as  the  vital 
and  voluntary  energies  of  the  system  decline.  Pew  human 
beings  can  equal  the  Torpedo  in  the  powerful  concentration 
and  disruptive  discharge  of  vital  electricity  ; and  yet  the 
frequent  repetition  of  the  experiment  has  demonstrated  the 


10 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


fact,  that  a highly  sensitive  person  may  be  temporarily 
paralyzed,  or  instantly  prostrated,  by  the  electro-nervous 
shock  produced  by  the  strong  will  of  a skillful  operator.  ^ 

That  electricity,  when  it  moves  in  currents,  acts  power- 
fully on  other  and  grosser  elements,  causing  the  molecules 
to  be  violently  agitated,  admits  of  several  experimental  il- 
lustrations. For  example — if  you  pass  an  electric  current 
over  a siphon  while  a stream  of  water  is  flowing  through  it, 
the  water  will  rush  out  with  an  increased  velocity  propor- 
tioned to  the  strength  of  the  electrical  current.  That  the 
blood  in  the  arteries  is  thus  acted  on  by  vital  electricity  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that,  in  the  precise  degree  that  the 

1 Some  years  since,  while  the  writer  was  engaged  in  the  village  of  Saratoga 
Springs,  in  the  delivery  of  a course  of  lectures,  on  his  electrical  theory  of 
the  vital  functions,  Mr.  Cook  (an  intelligent  citizen  of  that  place,  whose  ex- 
perimental inquiries  in  the  department  of  electrical  science  had  been  liber- 
ally patronized  by  the  government)  boldly  disputed  the  theory,  and  insisted 
tliat  neither  the  functions  of  animated  nature,  nor  the  so-called  psychologi- 
cal phenomena,  depended  in  any  way  on  the  a«tion  of  vital  electricity, 
either  involuntarily  applied,  or  employed  as  the  agent  of  the  will.  He 
was  willing  to  settle  that  question  by  the  result  of  “ an  experiment he  was 
quite  sure  that  he  could  “ knock  a man  down’’  with  a disruptive  discharge 
of  electricity  artificially  generated  by  his  apparatus,  and  when  the  gentleman, 
[the  present  writer]  would  do  the  same  with  his  mental-electric  battery,  he 
would  believe  that  electricity  had  something  to  do  with  the  phenomena  in 
question. 

Mr.  Cook  was  held  to  his  word  in  presence  of  the  assembly.  Two  well 
known  and  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  that  place — strangers  to  the  writer — 
were  selected  for  the  experiment.  After  making  such  manipulations  as 
were  conceived  to  be  necessary,  I directed  the  two  gentlemen  to  stand  fii-mly 
at  a distance  of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  from  the  position  I had  assumed. 
Taking  their  places  as  directed,  with  the  muscles  firmly  braced,  and  with  a 
strong  resolution  not  to  yield  to  any  outside  influence,  it  is  useless  to  say 
that  they  had  no  expectation  of  falling.  The  next  moment,  however,  they 
were  both  prostrated  by  the  psycho-electric  action,  and  extended  at  lull 
length  on  the  floor.  This  experiment,  performed  in  the  presence  of  hundreds 
of  intelligent  witnesses,  terminated  the  controversy. 


CIIICULATION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  FLUIDS-  41 

nervous  force  is  unduly  directed  to  any  particular  part,  or 
concentrated  on  a single  organ  of  the  body,  will  the  arte- 
rial circulation  be  found  to  increase  in  the  same  direction  ? 
Thus  the  fluids  circulate,  and  the  ultimate  molecules  are  de- 
posited in  their  appropriate  places  in  the  process  of  assimi- 
lation. Moreover,  that  vital  or  animal  heat  is  evolved  by 
the  action  of  the  same  electric  agent,  and  that  the  brain  is 
the  principal  reservoir  from  which  it  is  distributed  to  all 
parts  of  the  system,  is  confirmed  by  the  experiments  of 
Brodic  on  the  rabbit.  Having  destroyed  or  paralyzed  the 
brain  of  the  animal,  he  contrived  to  keep  up  the  respiration 
)V  artificial  means  ; but  the  temperature  of  the  whole  body 
YiiB  steadily  reduced  to  a degree  far  below  the  normal 
standard. 

Physiologists  tell  us  that  the  change  that  occurs  in  the 
color  of  the  blood,  in  its  passage  through  the  lungs,  is  occa- 
sioned by  its  decarbonization  and  its  union  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  atmosphere.  But  this  is  rather  describing  the  chemi- 
cal process  than  explaining  its  cause.  Or,  I may  say,  such 
teachers  merely  seize  on  one  part,  or  a single  aspect  of  the 
elemental  change,  to  account  for  itself,  and  for  whatever  else 
belongs  to  the  whole  process.  This  is  leaving  a dark  sub- 
ject as  they  found  it,  except  so  far  as  learned  and  systematic 
ignorance  serves  to  render  it  still  more  obscure.  That  the 
chemical  process,  involving  the  change  in  the  color  of  the 
blood  is  produced  by  atmospheric  electricity  in  the  lungs,  is 
confirmed  by  significant  facts  and  substantial  reasons.  If 
we  pass  an  electrical  current  through  a quantity  of  venous 
blood,  it  will  instantly  exhibit  the  same  change  of  color  that 
occurs  in  its  passage  through  the  cliief  organs  of  respiration. 


42 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


This  seems  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  one  and  the  same 
agent  produces  the  change  in  both  cases.  Indeed,  it  is  by 
no  means  apparent  that — in  the  process  of  respiration — the 
blood  comes  into  direct  contact  with  the  air  at  all,  except 
when  some  pulmonary  vessel  is  ruptured.  On  the  contrary, 
when  the  lungs  are  in  a sound  state,  the  blood  is  of  course 
confined  to  its  own  appropriate  channels — the  pulmonary  ar- 
teries and  veins,  while  the  atmosphere  alone  occupies  the 
air-cells. 

I have  thus  furnished  such  evidence  as  the  case  seems  to 
demand,  in  illustration  of  the  important  ofQce  and  the  mys- 
terious power  of  vital  electricity,  as  displayed  in  the  distri  - 
bution of  the  animal  fluids.  In  the  next  Chapter  the  reade  ’ 
will  be  invited  to  consider  the  laws  and  conditions  of  Vital 
Harmony. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONDITIONS  OF  VITAL  HARMONY. 

Oj)posite  Forces— Illustrations  among  the  Elements — Animated  Nature — 
Health  and  Disease — Essential  Conditions  Specified — The  Cooperation  of 
Nature — A Strong  Mind  and  a Weak  Body — Passions  and  Pursuits  as 
Disturbing  Causes — Our  Education  Defective — Fashionable  Caricatures — 
The  Ideal  Harmony. 

The  elements  and  forms  of  physical  nature  are  not  con- 
trolled by  a single  force  acting  forever  in  a direct  line, 
but  by  opposite  forces  in  equilihrio.  The  planets  revolve,  all 
Nature  moves,  and  countless  living  forms  are  organized 
through  the  harmonic  action  of  positive  and  negative  forces 
that  govern  all  the  elements  of  matter.  A precise  balance 
of  these  forces  is  indispensable  to  the  uniform  and  orderly 
operations  of  Nature.  When  the  equilibrium  is  temporarily 
interrupted,  motion  is  sure  to  become  irregular,  uncertain 
and  destructive.  The  elements  furnish  familiar  but  very 
striking  examples. 

When  the  generation  of  electricity — no  matter  from  what 
cause — is  more  rapid  in  one  place  than  in  another,  the  atmo- 
spheric balance  is  liable  to  be  interrupted.  Electrical  cur- 
rents first  move  toward  the  negative  regions  of  the  earth 
and  atmosphere  ; the  air  is  put  in  motion  in  the  same  direc- 
tion ; tempests  arise,  and  the  wild  rush  of  the  elements — in 

4 


14 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


seeking  their  equilibrium — often  spreads  ruin  like  a mantle 
of  darkness  over  stately  forests,  smiling  fields,  and  the 
abodes  of  men.  In  like  manner,  when  the  explosive  gases 
are  suddenly  ignited  by  electric  forces  and  chemical  fires, 
in  the  deep  bosom  of  the  earth,  proud  cities  are  demolished  ; 
continents  are  rent  asunder  ; islands  rise  like  bubbles  in  the 
midst  of  the  sea  ; and  the  great  globe  itself  trembles  be- 
neath the  terrible  pulse  and  the  gigantic  tread  of  the  earth- 
quake ! 

It  is  well  known  that  two  opposing  forces  govern  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Should  one  of  these 
preponderate,  there  would  be  a sudden  and  awful  pause  in 
the  music  of  the  spheres.  The  planets  would  reel  from-  their 
orbits  and  scatter  their  ruins  through  the  immeasurable 
fields  of  space.  Annihilate  one  of  these  forces,  and  it  is 
probable  that  all  organized  bodies  would  be  decomposed 
and  all  matter  in  the  Universe  be  reduced  to  its  primary 
elements. 

That  the  forms  and  functions  of  animated  nature  depend 
on  a similar  law,  must  appear  exceedingly  probable  to  the 
mind  of  the  philosophical  observer.  In  the  last  Chapter  it 
was  shown  that  the  existence  of  positive  and  negative  elec- 
trical forces  could  alone  account  for  tlie  distribution  of  the 
animal  fluids.  If,  therefore,  the  circulation  and  all  tlie 
organic  functions  depend  on  the  presence  and  equal  action 
of  .such  forces,  it  will  follow  that  the  moment  these  become 
unequal  a functional  derangement  must  ensue,  and  this 
would  be  the  incipient  stage  of  disease.  But  here  it  may  be 
well  to  define  the  terms  I must  employ  as  the  representa- 
Uves  of  ideas. 


CONDITIONS  OF  VITAL  HARMONY. 


45 


Health  is  the  natural  condition  of  a living  body.  I use  the 
word  "to  indicate  that  equal  development  and  perfect  state 
of  the  physical  system  wherein  the  several  organs  are  sound, 
and  their  united  action  characterized  by  freedom,  precision 
and  harmony.  On  the  other  hand,  disease  is  any  condition 
of  an  organized  body  in  which  the  vital  harmony  is  dis- 
turbed, so  that  the  functions  are  rendered  abnormal  or 
irregular.  In  other  words,  disease  is  the  loss  of  the  eguili- 
hrium  of  tlie  forces  lohicli  produce  the  vital  and  voluntary 
functions  of  the  body.  Whenever  this  occurs  it  may  readily 
be  perceived  by  an  ordinary  observer.  The  irregular  beat 
of  the  pulse,  the  impaired  digestion,  nervous  irritability  and 
general  derangement  of  the  secretions,  all  furnish  infallible 
evidence  that  the  conditions  of  health  have  been  disregarded, 
and  the  laws  of  life  violated.  Health  being  the  normal  or 
natural  condition,  disease,  or  vital  derangement,  necessarily 
presupposes  a departure  from  a true  state  of  Nature.  As 
certainly  as  all  causes  produce  corresponding  effects,  health 
can  not  continue  where  the  laws  of  vital  motion  and  organic 
harmony  are  perpetually  infringed,  nor  can  disease  be  de- 
veloped where  those  laws  are  clearly  perceived  and  scrupu- 
lously obeyed.  To  secure  health,  therefore,  it  remains  for  us 
to  adapt  our  manner  of  life  to  the  precise  requirements  of 
Nature. 

The  first,  and  therefore  the  most  essential  condition  of 
vital  harmony,  is  a sound  and  well  developed  body.  When 
the  organs  are  disproportioned  at  birth,  or  their  subsequent 
growth  is  unequal,  there  can  be  no  certain  and  lasting 
harmony  in  their  functions.  A perfect  organic  action  is 
only  possible  when  the  organism  itself  is  complete.  Preci- 


46 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sion  in  the  movement  must  depend  on  perfection  in  the  vital 
mechanism.  For  example,  if  the  vital  organs  be  unusually 
small,  or  the  space  they  occupy  inadequate  to  admit  of  their 
free  exercise  and  full  development,  the  individual  will  suffer 
from  constitutional  debility  ; health  will  be  rendered  inse- 
cure, and  the  continuance  of  life  uncertain.  Again  : If  the 
brain  be  very  large,  and  the  cerebral  action  intense  and 
unremitting,  the  forces  of  the  system  will  be  unduly  at- 
tracted to  that  organ  ; this  may  occasion  congestion,  in- 
sanity, a softening  of  the  brain,  or  some  other  local  disorder. 
At  the  same  time  the  extremities — not  being  properly 
warmed  and  energized  by  a diffusion  of  the  vital  principle — 
will  be  cold  and  weak  ; digestion  will  be  slow,  respiration  - 
perfect,  ihe  secretions  irregular,  and  the  enjoyment  of  iim  .- 
terrupted  health  impossible.  The  opposite  extremes  in  the 
development  and  action  of  the  nutritive  system  may  produce 
a Calvin  Edson  and  a Daniel  Lambert — the  one  a suitable 
subject  for  the  anatomical  museum  ; and  the  other  a huge 
mass  of  carbon,  that  only  waits  for  a deranged  actiov.  of 
vital  electricity  to  set  it  on  fire,  when  the  whole  system  may 
be  consumed  by  what  the  doctors  call  an  intense  fever  or 
acute  inflammation — familiar  terms  to  represent  the  process 
of  accelerated  vital  combustion. 

Next  in  importance  to  a sound  and  well-developed  organ- 
ization, is,  the  'prosper  application  of  the  force  on  which  the 
functions  of  the  organs  depend.  When  this  is  unequal,  or  is 
not  so  distributed  as  to  supply  each  organ  with  its  appro- 
priate share,  the  vital  movement  and  temperature  of  neces- 
sity become  irregular.  The  motive  power — which  wc  have 


CONDITIONS  OF  VITAL  HARMONY.  47 

ascertained  to  be  vital  electricity — can  not  be  unduly  con- 
centrated on  a particular  organ  without  producing  a corre- 
spondingly negative  state  of  other  portions  of  the  body,  and 
this  condition  must  occasion  disorder  in  the  organic  action. ' 
Whatever,  therefore,  disturbs  the  nervous  forces,  and  thus 
interrupts  the  physical  equilibrium,  must  produce  disease. 
And  yet — disease  being  an  unnatural  state  of  the  system — 
it  reqnires  a more  potent  cause  to  permanently  destroy  the 
vital  balance  than  to  restore  the  equilibrium  when  it  has 
been  temporarily  interrupted.  For — it  will  be  perceived — 
when  we  undertake  to  derange  the  forces  and  functions  of 
our  being,  we  must  contend  single-handed  against  Nature  ; 
whereas,  when  we  labor  to  preserve — or  to  reestablish  if 
lost — the  essential  harmony,  we  have  Nature  to  aid  us  by 
her  constant  and  powerful  cooperation. 

The  operations  of  the  mind,  state  of  the  affections,  exer- 
cise of  the  passions,  and  our  pursuits  in  life,  determine  how 
far  the  physical  harmony  may  be  preserved  ; also,  to  what 
extent  it  is  liable  to  be  sacrificed.  The  intense  action  of 
the  mind  may  weaken  all  the  involuntary  functions  of  the 
body,  and  a frail  organization  is  often  prematurely  de- 
stroyed by  a mind  of  unusual  activity  and  power.  When  a 
mind  of  vast  capacity  is  lodged  in  a frail  body,  the  intel- 
lectual faculties  should  be  exercised  with  great  caution  and 
reserve  ; otherwise  the  action  of  the  brain  will  exhaust  all 
the  vitality,  and  the  body  will  rapidly  decline.  One  might 
as  well  put  an  immense  engine  into  a slender  vessel,  and 
proceed  to  test  its  utmost  power  in  a rough  sea,  as  to 
give  full  scope  to  a strong  mind  without  regard  to  the 


48 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


capacity  of  its  organic  instrument.  Yet  thousands  make 
this  mistake  every  year,  and  only  realize  their  error  when  it 
is  too  late  to  avert  the  fatal  consequences,’ 

Moreover,  when  the  affections  are  deep  and  strong — 
especially  when  they  have  been  given  to  unworthy  objects — 
when  confidence  is  lost,  and  bright  prospects  vanish  like 
dissolving  views  ; when  friends  hold  the  wormwood  to  the 
lips,  and  Hope  disappears  or  stands  in  the  distance  with 
veiled  and  averted  face;  when  the  heart  is  crucified,  and 
one  is  left  to  wear  a crown  of  thorns  for  the  sake  of  those 
he  loved! — Oh,  then  the  nerves  are  swept  with  a tempest  of 
human  feeling  ; the  brain  reels  and  burns,  and  the  vital 
flame  may  be  extinguished  as  the  cold  floods  roll  over  him  ! 

When  the  passions  are  excited  to  great  intensity,  and  tlie 
soul  falls  amid  the  darkness  of  its  wild  delirium  ; then,  too, 


^ I had  a friend — an  inheritor  of  genius.  He  was  of  a feeble  frame,  but  his 
mind  was  wondrously  endowed.  He  appeared  to  derive  knowledge  from 
spheres  invisible  and  unknown.  He  was  subject  to  rapt  moods,  and  gave 
birth  to  divine  ideas.  As  we  have  seen  the  clouds  that  hovered  in  the 
midnight  sky  suddenly  break  and  pass  away — revealing  the  glorious  stars — 
so  did  darkness  leave  the  subjects  of  his  contemplation,  and  thus  came  the 
great  thoughts  to  him ! And  then,  when  all  the  faculties  were  awake,  the 
action  was  mysterious  and  solemn,  yet  beautiful  and  musical.  To  the 
imaginative  observer  the  mental  and  moral  movement  seemed  like  the  music 
of  a great  organ — so  did  the  polished  dome  and  every  inferior  part  of  the 
temple  shake  beneath  the  action  of  the  indwelling  divinity.  Like  the  tolling 
of  a great  bell  in  a frail,  crumbling  tower,  every  earnest  heart-beat  reminded 
us  at  once  of  death  and  immortality.  At  length  the  structure  fell ! And 
when  the  bell  tolled  no  more  in  the  tower,  old  men,  and  beautiful  women, 
and  even  little  children  came  to  watch  and  weep  over  the  consecrated  ruins. 

I would  have  no  one  disregard  his  relations  to  this  world,  or  lightly  esti- 
mate the  boon  of  the  present  existence  ; but  the  wrong — if,  indeed,  there  be 
a wrong — is  greatly  mitigated  when  the  body  is  thus  made  an  offering  to 
the  higher  life  of  the  soul.  The  deed  is  characterized  by  a peculiar  gran- 
deur, and  I dare  not  say  that  Heaven  will  dishonor  the  sacrifice. 


CONDITIONS  OF  VITAL  HARMONY.  ‘H)  ^ 

the  vital  powers  and  processes  are  deranged,  and  Life  trem- 
bles in  its  mortal  citadel.  Moreover,  when  our  pursuits  are 
of  such  a nature  as  to  exercise  but  a single  class  of  the  facul- 
ties ; when  Reason’s  commanding  voice  is  silenced  by  the 
suggestions  of  a selfish  policy ; when  conscience  is  immolated 
at  the  polluted  shrines  of  Custom  and  Mammon,  the  vital 
balance  will  soon  be  lost ; for  the  individual  who  has  no 
mental  or  moral  equipoise  may  not  hope  to  enjoy  health,  or 
to  preserve  the  integrity  and  harmony  of  his  physical  nature. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  lamented  that  our  modes  of  instruction 
and  discipline  are  so  poorly  fitted  to  promote  the  normal 
growth  and  the  true  life  of  the  Race.  They  usually  cause 
an  abnormal  excitement  of  certain  faculties  and  affections, 
while  others — not  less  essential  to  the  perfection  of  human 
nature — are  permitted  to  remain  inactive.  These  partial 
aims  and  defective  methods  produce  various  angularities  of 
form  and  irregularities  of  function,  while  they  seldom  fail  to 
destroy  the  symmetrical  proportions  of  body,  mind  and 
character.  If  educated  for  a religious  teacher,  the  man’s 
reverence  is  liable  to  be  unduly  exercised  at  the  expense  of 
his  reason  ; if  trained  for  the  law,  his  moral  sensibilities 
may  be  blunted  in  the  process  of  sharpening  his  wits  ; if 
armed  for  the  arena  of  political  strife,  his  peculiar  training 
too  often  renders  him  regardless  of  moral  obligation,  and 
indifferent  to  the  sanctions  of  religion  ; and,  finally,  if  pre- 
pared after  the  most  approved  method  for  society,  he  be- 
comes the  idle  votary  of  fashion,  and  a servile  worshiper  at 
the  shrine  of  Beauty. 

Among  the  multitudes  that  crowd  the  great  avenues  ot 
business,  we  rarely  meet  Avit^i  a man  wiio,  in  every  act  of  his 


MAN  AND  HIS  KELATIONS. 


. 50 

life,  is  governed  by  a clear  perception  of  justice,  and  an  en- 
lightened sense  of  moral  obligation.  We  should  be  troubled 
to  find  a politician  who  steadily  holds  the  demands  of  his 
party  in  subordination  to  the  claims  of  his  country.  In  the 
palace  homes  of  wealth,  and  the  gilded  drawing-rooms  ot 
fashionable  society,  we  meet  with  few  women  in  whom  the 
uncorrupted  love  of  natural  grace,  simplicity  and  beauty, 
predominates  over  the  passion,  for  the  modern,  corrupt  and 
frightful  distortions  of  human  nature*  Instead  of  men  and 
women,  such  as  God  made,  with  forms  and  faculties  sym- 
metrically developed  and  harmoniously  exercised,  we  have 
stuffed  effigies  of  the  natural  form,  and  painted  caricatures 
of  “ the  human  face  divine.”  Such  distorted  and  diseased 
images  and  forms  of  real  life  and  health,  move  with  artificial 
grace  and  automatic  precision  in  all  the  gay  saloons  of  Paris 
and  New  York.  Not  a few  of  them,  when  fairly  disrobed, 
are  found  to  be  little  else  but  filthy  sepulchers  of  human 
hearts  and  minds. 

But  when  the  body  is  rounded  into  complete  human  pro- 
portions, the  temperaments  properly  blended,  and  the  facul- 
ties and  affections  equally  developed — when  the  appetites 
and  passions  are  wisely  restrained  and  truly  spiritualized, 
health  is  rendered  secure  ; Man  becomes  a sweet-toned  lyre, 
and  the  vital,  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  powers  of  the 
world,  all  combine  to  sweep  the  chords  and  wake 

The  living  soul  of  Harmony.” 


CHAPTER.  V. 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OF  VITAL  DERANGEMENT, 

Positive  and  Negative  Forms  of  Disease  -Improper  Expenditure  of  Vital 
Energy — Inevitable  Consequences — Results  of  Normal  and  Abnormal 
Physical  Exercises — Excessive  Alimentiveness— Effects  of  Narcotics  and 
Stimulants — A False  Hypothesis — Amatory  Perversions— Electrical  Causes 
of  Fevers  and  of  Cholera— How  to  guard  against  the  Several  Causes  of 
Vital  Derangement. 

WE  are  now  prepared  to  inquire  into  the  physical  causes 
and  conditions  which  dispose  the  human  frame  to  dis- 
ease. Here  a theme  of  inconceivable  moment  is  suggested  ; 
one  that  it  might  be  profitable  to  discuss  at  far  greater 
length  than  comports  with  my  present  plan.  Nothing  can  be 
more  essential  to  the  temporal  well-being  of  the  race  than 
reliable  information  on  this  subject ; for,  if  we  well  under- 
stand the  general  causes  of  disease,  we  may  often  shun  o^ 
resist  the  evil  by  a prudent  regard  to  existing  physical  states 
and  relations. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that  the  vital  functions 
directly  depend  on  positive  and  negative  conditions  and 
forces.  Now  the  general  states  most  likely  to  produce 
disease — those  which  comprehend  all  other  conditions  and 
circumstances  tending  to  similar  results — will  be  found  to 
originate  in  an  excess,  or  from  an  inadequate  supply  of  this 


52 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


electric  medium — in  short,  from  the  too  positive  and  nega- 
tive conditions  of  the  human  body,  and  the  surrounding 
elements  of  the  earth  and  atmosphere.  The  preponderance 
of  this  vital  motor  disposes  the  system  to  fevers  and  inflam- 
mations ; while  a want  of  animal  electricity  will  naturally 
result  in  such  forms  of  disease  as  are  attended  with  coldness 
of  the  body,  and  imperfect  sensation,  together  with  a want 
of  vital  power  and  organic  activity. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  Nature — when  undis- 
turbed in  the  exercise  of  her  functions — provides  a supply 
equal  to  the  necessities  of  every  occasion  ; and  whenever  a 
deficiency  occurs,  we  may  be  sure  she  has  been  taxed  unlaw- 
fully. The  vital  forces  and  fluids  are  unnecessarily  ex- 
pended, and  the  system  rapidly  exhausted  by  a variety  of 
ways  and  means  ; but  I will  first  point  out  the  general  con- 
sequences of  intense  and  protracted  physical  exercise,  and 
the  fearful  results  of  the  immoderate  gratification  of  the 
appetites  and  passions.  It  .often  happens  with  persons  who 
are  laboriously  employed,  that  the  weight  of  the  body  is 
gradually  diminished.  This  is  a very  certain  indication 
that  the  vital  fluids  are  not  produced  or  generated  as  rapidly 
as  they  are  dissipated  in  the  various  processes  of  the  body. 
This  condition  is  unfavorable  to  health,  and  such  a decline 
of  the  recuperative  energies  of  the  system,  as  compared  with 
the  current  expenditure  of  vital  power,  can  not  long  con- 
tinue without  causing  more  aggravated  forms  of  vital  de- 
rangement. If  the  conservative  powers  of  the  body  be 
unequal  to  the  task  of  supplying  whatever  is  demanded  to 
repair  the  ordinary  waste,  it  requires  no  prophet’s  vision  to 
enable  the  rational  mind  to  perceive  that — sooner  or  later — 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OF  VITAL  DERANGEMENT. 


53 


the  system  must  inevitably  suspend  its  operations.  Those 
who  understand  tlie  laws  of  trade  will  perhaps  see  the  point 
more  clearly  in  the  light  of  a single  illustration. 

Suppose  that  your  neighbor  has  been  engaged — during 
the  past  year — in  some  business  with  which  he  is  but  imper- 
fectly acquainted.  From  an  examination  of  his  books,  it  is 
made  to  appear  that  there  has  been  an  excess  in  the  current 
expenses  over  the  gross  receipts.  The  consequence  is,  he  is 
involved  ; and  a fair  inventory  of  his  assets  awakens  a sus- 
picion of  his  insolvency.  If  he  resolves  to  continue  business 
und6r  such  circumstances,  and  you  have  learned  to  reason 
from  cause  to  effect,  you  may  infallibly  predict  the  disaster 
that  awaits  him.  Now,  analogous  causes  inevitably  produce 
similar  results  in  the  case  under  consideration.  Unless  the 
production  of  vitality  be  equal  to  the  demand  in  conducting 
the  several  operations  of  the  physical  system,  the  man  will 
surely  fail,  and  a final  settlement  of  his  affairs  will  be  de- 
manded. Or,  to  drop  the  figure,  disease  will  ensue,  and 
death  may  abruptly  close  the  business  of  life. 

The  forces  of  the  living  body  are  expended  as  they  are 
generated  in  the  performance  of  the  vital  and  voluntary 
functions.  The  proportion  employed  in  voluntary  effort  is 
greater  or  less  according  to  the  perfection  of  the  organic 
structure,  combination  of  the  temperaments,  the  temporal 
necessities  and  incidental  circumstances  of  the  individual. 
So  long  as  physical  exercise  is  regulated — as  to  the  seasons 
and  the  modes — by  an  enlightened  judgment,  and  otherwise 
graduated  by  the  normal  capabilities  of  the  constitution,  it 
serves  to  strengthen  respiration,  to  accelerate  the  processes 
of  vital  chemistry,  to  increase  the  measure  of  animal  elec- 


54 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tricity ; and  thus  to  promote  a free,  natural  and  vigorous 
action  of  all  the  organs.  But  it  is  no  less  true  that  exces- 
sive toil  diminishes  the  latent  powers  of  life,  enervates  the 
organs,  and  restrains  their  appropriate  functions ; until  by 
degrees  the  recuperative  energies  are  fairly  exhausted,  and 
the  whole  system  sinks  under  the  weight  of  its  unnatural 
burden. 

The  intelligent  reader  will  perceive  the  reasons  why  too 
much  exercise  of  the  body  is  liable  to  interrupt  the  organic 
harmony.  Whenever  we  labor  excessively — or  beyond  the 
limitations  which  Nature  has  prescribed  for  the  government 
of  the  individual — we  make  perpetual  and  unreasonable 
demands  on  such  springs  and  resources  of  vital  power  as 
legitimately  belong  to  the  involuntary  organs  and  their 
functions.  These  drafts  are  only  honored  at  the  expense  of 
health,  and,  it  may  be,  at  the  sacrifice  of  life.  , When  once 
we  reach  the  proper  limit  of  our  powers  of  endurance,  every 
additional  hour  spent  in  physical  exertion,  extracts  some 
portion  of  the  Life-principle  from  each  separate  organ  in  the 
vital  system,  or  diverts  the  same  from  its  appropriate  chan- 
nel. The  pulsation  becomes  labored,  digestion  is  impaired, 
the  liver  is  rendered  inert,  the  powers  of  thought  languish, 
the  will  relaxes  its  purpose  and  resigns  its  object,  while  the 
whole  man  suffers  from  consequent  enervation. 

Excessive  alimentiveness,  with  rapid  and  imperfect  masti- 
cation, is  liable  to  disturb  the  balance  of  nervous  power 
and  to  derange  the  functions.  It  imposes  an  unnatural 
burden  on  a particular  organ,  and  hence  calls  the  vital 
electricity  from  otlier  portions  of  the  system  to  tlie  stomach, 
in  an  undue  degree,  to  tlie  end  tliat  the  process  of  digestion 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OF  VITAL  DERANGEMENT. 

may  be  accelerated.  Several  times  a day  an  avalanche 
descends  with  fearful  momentum — elements  gross  and  ponder- 
able— while  mingling  torrents,  hot  and  cold,  follow  in  rapid 
succession.  For  a while  the  work  goes  on  without  any  per- 
ceptible interruption.  Nature  applies  all  her  forces  to  clear 
the  way  and  make  room  for  whatever  may  come  next.  The 
secretions  are  all  increased  beyond  the  normal  limit,  and 
the  whole  system  is  required  to  perform  extra  labor,  which 
soon  indisposes  the  individual  to  voluntary  effort.  A slug- 
gish state  of  mind  and  body  succeeds  with  a tendency  to 
indolent  habits.  Indolence  in  turn  aggravates  the  difficulty. 
At  length  the  oppressed  and  overburdened  organs — so  long 
restrained  and  obstructed  in  their  functions — lose  their 
vigor,  and  the  reaction  prostrates  the  whole  system.  The 
man  is  ill,  and  a Avise  Providence  destroys  his  appe- 
tite, that  nature  may  have  time  for  the  elimination  of  the 
superfluous  matter  in  the  body. 

Such  men  resemble  mills  that  are  employed  night  and  da}^ 
to  crack,  grind  and  bolt  the  grain  of  the  neighborhood  ; or, 
they  may  be  regarded  as  vast  receptacles  of  decaying  vegeta- 
tion, and  respectable  locomotive  sepulchers  for  the  rest  of 
the  animal  creation ! Omnivorous  mortals  ! your  greatest 
triumphs  among  the  elements  and  forms  of  matter  have  been 
achieved  through  the  concentrated  powers  of  the  gastric 
juice  ! Unlike  Bunyan’s  pilgrim,  who  had  the  good  sense 
o shoulder  the  bundle  of  his  iniquities,  you  impose  upon  the 
stomach  the  enormous  and  crushing  weight  of  your  manifold 
transgressions. 

The  appetite  for  narcotics  and  stimulants^  when  it  exer- 
cises an  irresistible  influence,  becomes  a prolific  source  of 


56 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


disease  or  vital  derangement.  It  is  well  known  tliai  the 
appetite  for  food  is  diminished,  and  the  digestive  functions 
impaired,  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  The  peristaltic  action  of 
the  intestines  may  be  quite  suspended,  sensation  temporarily 
destroyed,  and  the  faculties  benumbed,  by  the  use  of  power- 
ful narcotics.  Moreover,  those  who  are  accustomed  to  the 
free  use  of  tobacco — no  matter  in  what  form — exhibit  un- 
natural restlessness  and  a morbid  irritability  when  not 
under  the»  influence  of  that  agent.  They  may  be  speedily 
quieted  again  by  the  narcotic  spell  ; and  if  their  fears  have 
been  excited,  they  are  allayed  by  the  subtile  influence  of  the 
poison.  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  post-mortem  examina- 
tion, that  the  olfactories,  the  optic,  dental  and  pneuma-gastric 
nerves  become  inflamed  and  impaired  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  ^ 
Indeed  such  agents  are  all  intrinsically  at  war  with  the  vifal 
principle,  and  when  administered  professionally,  the  practi- 
tioner aims  to  diminish  pain  and  allay  the  tumultuous  action 
of  the  nervous  system  by  the  very  doubtful  expedient  of  de- 
stroying nervous  impressibility,  and  hence  by  a partial  sus- 
pension of  the  forces  and  functions  of  life. 

It  was  once  a favorite  hypothesis  that  all  disease  origi- 
nated in  debility,  and  therefore  excitants  or  stimulants  be- 
came the  most  important  remedial  agents.  This  notion  lias 
been  received  with  great  favor  by  persons  of  intemperate 
habits.  Such  people  generally  feel  weak  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  frequently  through  the  day  ; and  as  often  as  they 
experience  this  debility,  whether  in  the  stomach,  the  knees, 

I While  morphia,  belladonna  and  stramonium  produce  similar  general 
effects,  physicians  have  observed  that  each  has  a specific  action  on  particular 
portions  of  the  system,  which  need  not  be  described  in  this  connection. 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OF  VITAL  UERANCxEMENT. 


57 


or  in  the  resolution  to  reform,  they  resort  to  the  treatment 
by  taking  brandy,  or  some  other  positive  stimulant.  This 
frequent  and  unnatural  excitement  of  the  vital  energies  is 
followed  by  a reaction,  when  the  life-forces  sink  as  far 
below  the  standard  of  normal  activity  as  they  had  been 
raised  above  the  vital  equilibrium.  At  length  the  organic 
harmony  is  permanently  interrupted  ; the  nervous  system  is 
unstrung ; the  blood  on  fire ; and  fortune,  reputation,  char- 
acter and  manhood — all  wrecked  and  lost  in  scenes  of  wild 
delirium — are  engulfed  in  a burning  sea. 

Thousands,  by  an  inordinate  indulgence  of  their  passions 
— whether  sanctioiied  or  condemned  by  the  statute — do  not 
scruple  to  lower  the  tone  of  the  mind  and  the  character, 
wliile  they  lay  the  foundations  of  shame,  disease,  and  death 
for  themselves  and  their  posterity.  The  sexual  attraction, 
when  not  restrained  by  reason,  leads  to  fathomless  perdition. 
When  not  refined  and  spiritualized  by  the  higher  law  that 
forever  unites  congenial  souls,  it  becomes  immoral  and 
adulterous,  in  spite  of  all  legal  enactments  and  definitions. 
Lust  has  a perpetual  injunction  on  the  faculties  of  such 
people,  while  their  children  after  them  are  mortgaged  to 
corruption,  and  death  holds  a quit-claim  on  their  mortal 
bodies.  They  transgress  and  repent  in  regular  alternation  ; 
they  cry,  call  on  the  Lord  and  the  doctor — go  to  meeting 
and  take  physic — and  then — sin  again. 

The  conditions  of  the  human  body  are  liable  to  be 
materially  influenced  by  the  existing  electrical  state  of  the 
earth  and  atmosphere.  When  thunder-storms  are  of  rare 
occurrence,  in  the  summer  months,  indicating  an  unusual 
absence  of  atmospheric  electricity,  this  agent  passes  imper- 


58 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 

ceptibly  from  the  living  body — rapidly  if  the  atmosphere  be 
in  a humid  state — until  the  electro-vital  power  is  so  far 
reduced  that  negative  forms  of  disease  everywhere  prevail. 
Cholera  Asphyxia  is  well  known  to  involve  a cold  or  very 
negative  state  of  the  system.  In  this  leading  characteristic 
it  is  the  opposite  state  to  a fever.  It  is  attended  with  a 
slow,  feeble  pulse,  general  lassitude,  and  a rapid  decline  and 
suspension  of  all  the  vital  functions.  It  is  a well  known 
fact  that  the  year  1832 — in  the  summer  of  which  the  cholera 
raged  so  fearfully  in  this  country — was  distinguished  fo  ’ an 
almost  total  absence  of  electrical  phenomena.  Nor  is  it  less 
a matter  of  faet  and  of  history  that  during  that  season  there 
were  no  fevers,  or  at  least  the  cases  were  of  rare  occurrence. 
About  the  first  of  September  there  were  violent  electrical 
storms  in  dilferent  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  cholera 
speedily  disappeared. 

That  opposite  electrical  conditions  produce  fevers  and 
inflammatory  states  of  the  body,  is  doubtless  true,  and  might 
be  illustrated  at  length — did  our  limits  permit — by  the  cita- 
tion of  numerous  facts  and  reasons.  I will,  however,  ob- 
serve, in  this  eonnection,  that  those  phases  of  vital  derange- 
ment, which  I denominate  the  positive  forms  of  disease^  arc 
wholly  difierent  in  their  symptomatic  aspects  from  the  class 
previously  described  and  characterized  as  negative  diseases. 
The  disorders  which  result  from  an  excess  of  vital  electricity 
in  the  body,  as  a whole,  or  from  an  undue  concentration  o 
this  agent  on  some  particular  organ,  arc  accompanied  witl 
a higher  temperature,  an  accelerated  pulse,  and  a general 
irregularity  in  the  organic  action.  The  extent  of  tliis  de- 
rangement may  be  estimated  by  observing  tlie  perisystole  as 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  OF  VITAL  DERANGEMENT.  5U 

the  electro-thermal  currents  rise  and  fall.  Moreover,  the 
diseases  of  this  class  are  most  general  and  fatal  when  the 
atmosphere  is  in  a highly  electrical  state,  as  evinced  by 
frequent  and  violent  thunder  storms.  The  results  may 
admit  of  some  modifications  from  individual  peculiarities 
and  local  conditions ; but  it  is  presumed  that  the  general 
correctness  of  our  position  will  be  confirmed  by  every  care- 
ful observer.^ 

How  shall  we  prevent  the  recurrence,  or  effect  the  re- 
moval, of  the  disorders  already  described  ? My  answer 
must  necessarily  be  brief  and  general.  Whenever  the  first 
of  the  several  causes  of  vital  derangement,  indicated  in  the 
foregoing  specification,  does  actually  exist,  or  is  likely  to 
transpire — when  vitality  is  or  may  be  expended  more 
rapidly  than  it  is  generated — measures  should  be  taken  to 
augment  the  vital  resources  ; or,  what  may  be  easier  of 
accomplishment,  to  lessen  their  expenditure.  If  the  indi- 
vidual has  been  accustomed  to  severe  and  protracted 
physical  labor,  it  will  be  necessary  to  diminish  the  time  and 
intensity  of  his  efforts.  If  the  derangement  be  caused  by 
the  excessive  indulgence  of  the  appetites,  the  subject  should 
seriously  engage  in  an  investigation  of  the  laws  of  health, 
and  in  the  contemplation  of  such  exalted  subjects  as  will  set 


1 As  a popular  author  of  philosophical  and  spiritual  books — who  has  long 
been  familiar  with  the  writer’s  views  respecting  the  relations  of  certain  dis- 
eases to  the  positive  and  negative  conditions  of  the  human  body  and  the 
surrounding  atmosphere — may  have  expressed  similar  opinions,  I deem  it 
just  and  proper  to  observe  that  the  present  writer  long  since  developed  his 
whole  theory  of  the  essential  causes  of  vital  derangement,  and  the  positive 
and  negative  forms  of  disease,  in  a course  of  lectures,  which  were  prepared 
about  twelve  years  since,  and  delivered  in  many  large  towns  and  cities  as 
early  as  the  year  1849. 


5 


6G 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


him  free  from  their  foul  dominion.  If  inordinate  sexual 
indulgence  be  the  cause  of  vital  inharmony,  the  individual 
must  learn  to  discipline  his  passional  nature,  and  subdue  his 
erratic  and  delirious  impulses  by  the  exercise  of  Reason. 
And,  finally,  if  the  organic  harmony  be  interrupted  by 
intense  and  continual  mental  application,  he  must  leave  the 
study  and  wander  in  the  fields,  that  a variety  of  objects  may 
divert  the  mind  from  any  laborious  process. 

It  becomes  all  who  would  guard  against  unnatural  weak- 
ness and  deformity,  premature  decay  of  the  faculties,  and  an 
untimely  departure  from  the  sphere  of  their  earthly  rela- 
tions, to  be  careful  that  the  physical  energies  are  not  wasted 
in  unlawful  pleasures  and  pursuits.  Every  violation  of  the 
laws  of  vital  and  organic  harmony,  is  a blow  aimed  at  the 
root  of  the  tree  of  life  ; and  when  at  last  by  repeated  blows 
we  have  interrupted  its  connection  with  earth  and  time,  no 
power  can  arrest  its  fall. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

VOLUNTARY  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES. 

The  Mind  and  its  Agent — Voluntary  and  Involuntary  Faculties  distinguished 
— Relations  of  Mind  to  the  Organic  Functions — Its  influence  in  Vital 
Chemistry — Agency  of  the  Will — Power  to  resist  Pain — St.  Augustin  and 
the  Priest — The  Italian  poet,  Marini — Remarkable  powers  of  Charles  W. 
Lawrence — Influence  of  Mental  Excitement  on  Sensation — Case  of  Nathan 
'b.  Gates — How  timid  natures  suffer  and  the  brave  endure. 

“Who  reigns  within  himself  and  rules 
Passions,  desires,  and  fears,  is  more  than  king.” 

Milton. 

The  human  economy  presents  at  once  the  most  beautiful 
organic  arrangement,  and  the  most  complicated  modes  of 
action.  Here,  indeed,  we  find  the  perfection  of  organic  re- 
lation and  dependence,  and  the  very  “ poetry  of  motion.” 
When  we  ascribe  the  corporeal  functions  to  vital  electricity, 
as  a proximate  agent,  we  are  quite  sure  that  the  alleged 
cause  is  adequate  to  produce  all  effects,  though  these  are  such 
complex  and  amazing  revelations  of  inward  power,  as  to  re- 
quire the  most  subtile  and  potent  principle  in  Nature; 
Nevertheless,  the  electrical  element  is  but  the  subordinate 
agent  of  Mind,  in  whicli  all  motion  has  its  origin.  Whether 
as  it  relates  to  the  human  system,  motion  be  voluntary  or  in- 
voluntary, the  active  power  belongs  to  the  spirit,  and  has  its 


MAN  AND  HIS  KELATI0N3. 


(,2 

material  residence  in  the  brain  ; while  the  chief  office  of  the 
heart  appears  to  be  to  regulate  the  vital  momentum,  or  to 
measure  the  quantity,  and  to  determine  the  rapidity  of  the 
circulation.  The  heart  beats  not  of  itself ; the  nerves 
vibrate  only  as  they  are  pervaded  by  a subtle  energy  that 
is  disturbed  by  outward  causes,  or  swept  by  the  invisible 
powers  of  thought  and  feeling.  Within  the  vital  precincts 
' of  this  ingenious  mechanism,  is  the  enshrined  and  unap- 
' proachable  presence  that  moves  the  whole — the 

“ Immortal  Spirit  of  the  chainless  Mind.” 

But  what  has  the  mind  do  with  the  pulsation,  and  how  can 
volition  influence  the  involuntary  action  of  the  vital  organs  ? 
There  are  times  when  the  mind  is  apparently  at  rest ; seasons 
when  the  judgment  is  powerless  ; when  Beason,  like  an  uh- 
faithful  sentinel,  slumbers  at  his  post,  and — to  our  conscious- 
ness— not  a single  thought  moves  in  the  silent  halls  of  the 
soul.  And  yet,  at  such  times,  the  vital  motive  power  is  at 
work,  and  the  necessary  functions  of  being  are  still  per- 
formed. Here  I may  observe  that  the  Mind  has  its  volmi' 
tary  and  involuntary  'powers^  and  these  are  related  as  causes 
to  the  voluntary  and  involuntary  functions  of  the  Body.  The 
passions  and  affections,  in  which  the  very  rudiments  of 
motion,  form,  life  and  sensation  appear  to  have  their  incipi- 
ency,  are  involuntary.  We  can  neither  love  nor  hate  at  plcas- 
ure  ; nor  do  we  believe  or  disbelieve  from  choice.  But  the 
ability  to  recall  past  events,  and  to  trace  the  relations  of  ex- 
ternal objects,  may  be — within  certain  natural  limitations — 
voluntary  poicers.  It  is  no  less  true  tliat  whoever  has  the 
capacity  may  reason  or  not  reason,  according  to  his  inclina- 


VOLUNTARY  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES. 


63 


tion.  A plain  distinction  here  finds  a foundation  in  a funda- 
mental difference.  All  the  functions  and  processes  that  may 
be  prompted  or  suspended  by  the  will,  are  voluntary.  Of 
this  class  the  powers  of  locomotion  and  speech  afford  fami- 
iar  examples.  There  are  other  organic  functions  which  do 
not  depend  on  volition,  such  as  the  action  of  the  heart,  the 
process  of  digestion,  the  assimilation  of  foreign  substances, 
and  the  secretions.  These  functions  may  be  produced  by  the 
spirit  acting  (unconsciousl}^  to  the  external  mind,)  on  the 
physical  organs,  through  electric  currents  in  the  nerves  of 
involuntary  motion.  Tnus  the  involuntary  powers  of  the 
mind  doubtless  govern  the  involuntary  functions  of  the  body. 
By  this  silent,  involuntary,  and  unconscious  agency,  the 
human  heart  pulsates  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  times 
in  twenty-four  hours  ; and  yet  this  motion  continues,  in  some 
instances,  more  than  one  hundred  years.  Mysterious,  beau- 
tiful and  wonderful,  indeed,  are  the  phenomena  of  life  ! We 
are  amazed  that  an  organism  so  delicate  and  complicated 
should  keep  in  repair  so  long,  and  that  it  is  even  capable 
of  sustaining  a power  so  vast  in  degree,  and  so  multiform  in 
its  modes  of  action. 

But  the  involuntary  functions  of  the  body  may  be  strongly 
influenced,  if  they  can  not  be  absolutely  controlled,  by  vol- 
untary mental  effort.  Some  of  the  more  familiar  illustra- 
tions of  this  point  may  be  seen  in  the  effects  which  intense 
and  protracted  thought  and  feeling  are  liable  to  produce  on 
the  functions  of  respiration,  digestion  and  secretion.  In 
proportion  as  the  forces  are  unduly  attracted  to,  and  ex- 
pended by  the  bra'n,  the  supply  demanded  by  other  vital 
organs  is  necessarily  diminished.  Hence,  a vigorous  and 


64 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


continued  exercise  of  the  mind  will  weaken  the  digestive 
function,  and<  retard  all  the  vital  processes.  While  the 
organs  of  respiration  move  involuntarily,  they  are  likewise 
provided  with  nerves  of  voluntary  motion,  and  their  action 
may  be  temporarily  suspended  by  the  executive  power  of  the 
mind.  But  in  certain  mental  states  the  respiratory  organs 
are  directly  acted  on,  and  their  functions  at  least  partially 
arrested,  when  the  individual  is  wholly  unconscious  of  any 
voluntary  effort.  It  is  well  known  that  intense  thought  will 
almost  suspend  respiration  ; hence  the  familiar  observation 
that  public  assemblies,  when  deeply  interested,  listen  with 
fixed  and  hreathless  attention.  Determined  mental  or  physi- 
cal effort  immediately  after  eating,  renders  the  process  of  di- 
gestion labored  and  imperfect,  because  it  diverts  the  electri- 
cal currents  from  the  stomach,  where  an  increased  measure 
of  vital  electricity  is  demanded  to  facilitate  the  chemical 
process.  For  this  reason,  authors  and  other  persons  whose 
minds  are  too  constantly  exercised,  are  especially  liable  to 
suffer  from  indigestion,  as  well  Jis  from  a general  decline  of 
nervous  energy. 

It  has  been  observed  already  that  the  mind  acts  directly 
on  the  electrical,  or  nervous  circulation,  and  through  that 
governs  the  distribution  of  all  the  grosser  forms  of  matter 
in  the  body.  Thus  the  molecular  deposits  are  increased  or 
diminished,  in  the  several  parts  of  the  human  system,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  different  faculties  and  affections  of  tlie  mind 
are  called  into  action,  and  their  appropriate  organs  are  cor- 
respondingly exercised.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  action 
of  the  mind  may  derange  or  equalize  the  vital  forces.  The 
organic  movement  may  in  this  manner  b'^  accelerated  or  re- 


VOLUNTARY  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES.  G-5 

tarded,  and  the  whole  body  wasted  or  renovated.  This 
power  of  the  mind  is  supreme.  When  misdirected  or  im- 
properly applied,  it  is  not  only  capable  of  disturbing  the 
vital  harmony,  but  it  is  liable  to  produce  the  most  terrible 
forms  of  disease,  and  may  suddenly  suspend  the  vital  func- 
tions. 

When  the  voluntary  faculties  of  the  mind  are  properly 
disciplined  and  fully  developed,  their  superiority  over  the 
powers  of  involuntary  motion  is  strikingly  displayed.  Ner- 
vous impressibility  may  be  greatly  diminished  by  a resolute 
effort  of  the  will,  and  the  convulsive  action  of  the  nerves 
and  muscles  of  involuntary  motion  may  be  resisted  by  a 
strong  and  unwavering  purpose.  In  this  manner  a violent 
cough  may  be  checked,  and  the  paroxysms  in  hysteria  greatly 
modified  or  wholly  subdued.  In  certain  deranged  states  of 
the  nervous  system,  the  patient  is  irresistibly  disposed  by 
turns  to  indulge  in  passionate  weeping  and  immoderate 
laughter  ; and  these  symptoms  are  most  prevalent  among 
females,  who  are  ordinarily  more  inclined  to  yield  to  invol- 
untary impulses,  at  the  same  time  they  are  less  distinguished 
than  men  for  executive  capacity,  or  for  strength  and  contin- 
uity in  the  exercise  of  the  will. 

But  there  are  more  striking  illustrations  of  the  power  of 
the  mind  over  the  forces  and  functions  of  involuntary  motion, 
and  in  which  the  superiority  of  the  rational  mind  over  the 
natural  operations  of  a merely  physical  agent  will  be  clearly 
seen.  Many  persons  have  the  power  to  drive  pain  from  the 
different  parts  of  their  own  bodies,  while  some  are  able  to 
infuse  new  energy  into  a feeble  organ  by  the  voluntary 
agency  of  the  mind.  It  is  possible  for  a man  of  lieroic  dis- 


66 


MAN  AND  HIS  RET.ATIONS. 


position  to  resist— by  the  force  of  his  will — the  reflex  ner- 
vous action,  and  to  calmly  submit  to  the  lash  or  to  the  most 
painful  surgical  operation  without  so  much  as  moving  a 
muscle.  The  brave  man,  who  thus  bears  the  trial  without 
shrinking,  really  suffers  but  little  in  comparison  with  the 
timid  mortal  who  instinctively  recoils  at  the  sight  of  the 
scourge  or  the  knife.  This  problem  in  human  experience 
admits  of  an  easy  solution.  The  firm  and  resolute  man, 
fortified  by  his  own  unflinching  courage,  braces  his  nerves 
against  the  shock.  By  the  power  of  his  will  he  prevents 
the  nervous  forces — when  they  are  agitated  at  the  extremi- 
ties or  on  the  surface — from  rushing  impetuously  toward  the 
seat  of  life.  He  feels  but  little  pain,  because  the  electrical 
currents,  through  which  impressions  are  conveyed  to  the 
brain,  are  but  slightly  disturbed.  The  vital  balance  is  pre- 
served by  the  firm  and  steady  action  of  the  mind.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  irresolute  and  cowardly  man — by  the  sub- 
jection of  his  will  and  the  recoiling  action  of  his  whole  mind 
— permits  the  nervous  circulation  to  rush  with  great  violence 
from  the  seat  of  the  injury  to  the  sensorium,  causing  eveiy 
smitten  and  tortured  nerve  to  writhe  in  the  intense  agony  of 
the  hour. 

The  voluntary  power  of  the  mind  to  resist  pain,  and  to 
influence  the  involuntary  functions  of  the  body,  like  every 
other  faculty,  may  be  augmented  by  appropriate  exercises. 
The  soul  may  be  so  far  withdrawn  from  the  outward  avenues 
of  sensation,  as  to  render  the  physical  organs  entirely  inope- 
rative. It  is  well  known  that  a person  in  a complete  state 
of  magnetic  coma  will  not  suficr  from  a corporeal  injury. 
But  this  state  of  physical  insensibility  may  be  self-induced. 


VOLUNTARY  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES. 


67 


St.  Augustin  refers  to  tlie  case  of  a priest  whose  power  of 
abstraction  was  so  great  that  his  body  could  be  subjected  to 
torture  without  his  being  conscious  of  the  injury  inflicted. 
It  is  also  alleged  respecting  Marini,  the  Italian  poet,  that 
while  engaged  in  a revision  of  his  Adonis,  he  became  so 
deeply  absorbed  that  he  put  his  foot  in  the  fire,  and  kept  it 
there  for  some  time,  without  the  slightest  consciousness  of 
his  exposure  to  the  devouring  element.  The  Fakirs  stop 
respiration,  seemingly  without  injury,  and  in  some  instances 
vital  motion  is  wholly  suspended  for  an  indefinite  period. 
Mr.  Charles  Lawrence,  with  whom  the  writer  was  for  several 
’ years  on  familiar  terms,  possessed  a remarkable  voluntary 
power  over  sensation  and  vital  motion.  He  could  so  para- 
lyze the  censor  nerves  that  his  skin  might  be  punctured 
without  causing  pain,  and  a violent  blow  did  not  occasion 
the  least  suffering.  By  the  power  of  his  volition  he  could 
immediately  accelerate  the  pulsation  in  a surprising  degree  ; 
and  he  could  also  entirely  suspend  the  heart’s  action  in  three 
minutes ! These  effects  were  repeatedly  produced  in  the 
presence  of  the  writer,  before  public  asssemblie’s,  and  to 
the  satisfaction  of  several  committees  composed  of  members 
of  the  medical  profession. 

Brave  men  seldom  speak  of  their  pains,  and  they  are 
cravens  who  suffer  over  much.  Whenever  the  powers  of 
the  mind  are  all  engrossed  in  the  contemplation  of  a great 
subject,  or  concentrated  for  the  achievement  of  some  noble 
purpose,  the  nerves  of  sensation  lose  their  susceptibility. 
We  close  the  gates  that  open  into  the  citadel  of  our  being, 
and  assume  a defensive  position  and  attitude.  We  resist  all 
impressions  while  the  whole  electric  force  is  being  concen- 


08 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


trated  on  the  nerves  and  muscles  of  voluntary  motion 
through  which  the  mind  aims  at  a free,  forcible  and  effective 
expression.  As  all  sensation  belongs  to  the  spirit,  a man  is 
not  likely  to  experience  pain,  in  consequence  of  a bodily 
injury,  when  all  his  faculties  are  otherwise  and  elsewhere 
employed.  This  suggests  the  reason  why  men  do  not  suffer 
from  physical  violence  when  they  are  under  the  influence  of 
a strong  mental  excitement.  The  writer  has  a nephew  who 
has  an  intense  passion  for  hunting.  While  pursuing  his 
game,  on  a certain  occasion,  a companion  in  the  chase  dis- 
charged the  contents  of  his  gun  into  one  of  his  lower  limbs, 
neither  party  being  aware  of  the  fact  for  some  minutes  ; nor 
was  the  injured  man  the  first  to  discover  th*e  accident. 
Moreover,  those  who  are  wounded  in  battle  are  often  wholly 
unconscious  of  the  fact  until  they  faint  from  loss  of  blood. 

The  history  of  the  Church  presents  many  examples  of  the 
supremacy  of  intense  emotion,  or  holy  passion,  over  all  the 
powers  and  susceptibilities  of  mind  and  body.  There  were 
illustrious  examples  of  patient  endurance  among  the  early 
Christian  martyrs  ; in  the  ranks  of  the  followers  of  Peter 
the  Hermit ; and  before  the  bloody  tribunals  of  the  Auto 
de  fL  Archbishop  Cranmer — prompted  and  sustained  by 
intense  feelings  of  mingled  penitence  and  devotion — held 
forth  the  hand,  employed  in  the  indorsement  of  papal 
doctrines  and  unrighteous  authorities,  and  exclaiming — 
repeatedly  and  with  a firm  voice — “ This  hand  has  offended  ! 
he  deliberately  held  it  in  the  fiercest  flames  until  it  was 
literally  consumed.  It  is  also  recorded  of  James  Bainliain 
that  he  appeared  to  be  exalted  in  spirit  beyond  the  jiossi- 
bility  of  physical  suffering.  When  his  limbs  were  partially 


VOLUNTAliy  AND  INVOLUNTARY  FACULTIES, 


60 


consumed,  lie  called  to  the  spectators  to  witness  the  miracle 
of  his  death ; and  then,  while  the  forked  flames  coiled  around 
his  whole  body,  he  said — in  a voice  that  indicated  at  once 
his  amazing  power  of  resistance  and  the  deep  serenity  of  his 
spirit — “ This  fire  is  a bed  of  roses  to  me  Others 
clapped  their  hands  and  shouted  aloud  for  joy,  until  the 
devouring  element  stifled  their  utterance,  and  their  enfran- 
chised spirits  ascended  in  fiery  chariots  to  heaven. 

I have  learned  from  personal  experience,  as  well  as  from 
long  and  careful  observation,  that  the  mind  may  so  act  on 
the  sensorial  medium  of  the  nervous  system,  as  to  produce 
many  strange  and  startling  physiolological  effects.  Invisible 
spiritual  powers  may  likewise  be  brought  to  bear  on  the 
earthly  objects  of  their  guardianship,  in  the  temporary  sus- 
pension of  feeling  ; so  that  any  violence  done  to  the  mortal 
body  may  cause  neither  pain  nor  inconvenience.  In  view  ot 
these  facts,  we  may  rationally  infer  that  those  who  have  all 
their  faculties  excited  to  action,  and  focalized  in  some  mighty 
endeavor,  may  be  quite  incapable  of  suffering.  Many  a 
nervous  woman  has  doubtless  endured  more  pain  while 
seated  in  the  dentist’s  chair,  than  the  most  illustrious  mar- 
tyrs of  Liberty  and  Keligion  have  suffered  on  the  scaffold 
or  at  the  stake.  The  historian  has  chronicled  the  names  and 
deeds  of  moral  heroes  who  were  seemingly  so  elevated  in 
soul  as  to  be  far  above  the  reach  of  their  persecutors.  In 
their  serene  happiness  and  sublime  integrity ; in  the  gener- 
ous enthusfasm  of  a great,  unselfish  purpose,  and  the  fervor 
of  intense  devotion,  they  walked  in  holy  triumph  before  God 
— wearing  mantles  of  consuming  fire — up  to  their  great 
Immortality. 


r 


CHAPTER  YIL 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS. 

Nature  of  the  Passions — Opinions  of  Philosophers — The  classification  bj 
Plato  and  Aristotle — Infiuence  of  the  Passions  on  the  processes  of  vital 
chemistry — Effects  of  intense  Sensuous  Love — How  certain  Passions  pro- 
duce particular  forms  of  Disease — Infiuence  of  Fear  in  changing  the  color 
of  the  Hair — Philosophy  of  the  process — Professor  Beckeinsteiner’s  experi- 
ments on  Animals — Singular  experience  of  a Telegraph  Operator — Irre- 
gularity of  the  change  in  persons  of  unequal  mental,  temperamental,  and 
organic  development — Illustration  from  the  records  of  the  writer’s  obser- 
vations— Further  summary  of  the  Electro-chemical  and  Physiological  effects 
of  the  Passions. 

The  faculties  and  passions  of  the  human  mind,  like  the 
organs  of  the  body  and  their  functions,  depend  on  suit- 
able modes  of  exercise  and  discipline  for  the  measure  ot 
their  strength,  and  the  capacity  to  perform  their  normal  ope- 
rations. We  come  into  existence  with  vast  latent  powers 
of  action,  and  immeasurable  capacities  for  improvement ; 
but  these  remain  concealed  and  inactive  until  the  circum- 
stances and  conditions  of  the  outward  life,  or  the  more  sub- 
tile powers  of  tlie  inward  world,  awaken  the  unconscious 
possessor  from  the  state  of  oblivious  repose,  and  lie  is  sum- 
moned, by  the  very  laws  and  necessities  of  his  own  being, 
into  the  wide  arena  of  human  activities.  Thus  we  all  enter 
on  tlie  career  of  our  endless  existence  and  progress.  From 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS.  71 

its  obscure  beginning  on  earth,  the  great  spiral  of  ascending  / 
Life  opens  up  to  man  through  all  the  intermediate  stages  of 
corporeal  and  spiritual  growtli,  into  the  celestial  degree  of 
his  nature,  and  the  highest  heaven  of  the  immortal  life  and 
world. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  human  development,  we  find  the 
most  powerful  incentives  to  action  in  the  excitements  pecu- 
liar to  the  emotional  nature.  Philosophers  have  entertained 
different  opinions  respecting  the  source  of  those  strong  and 
impetuous  mental  emotions  which  we  denominate  the  Pas- 
sions, Advocates  of  the  material  philosophy  are  of  course 
disposed  to  locate  them  in  the  coriooreal  system,  where  they 
profess  to  find  everything  that  essentially  belongs  to  man. 
Des  Cartes  entertained  and  inculcated  this  opinion,  while 
Mallebranche  conceived  that  they  are  “ agitations  of  the 
soul,”  proceeding  from  the  rapidity  of  the  arterial  circula- 
tion, and  the  impetuous  flow  of  the  animal  spirits.  This 
philosopher’s  materialism  is  clearly  enough  exposed  in  the 
simple  statement  of  his  opinion.  He  mistakes  effects  for 
causes  when  he  ascribes  the  soul’s  action  to  the  momentum  of 
the  fluids  in  the  body.  The  rapid  motion  of  the  animal  fluids 
does  not  precede  the  excitement  of  the  Passions,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  circulation  is  powerfully  influenced  by  every 
tempest  of  passional  feeling.  While  the  mind  may  be  com- 
posed, and  free  from  any  tendency  to  such  excitement,  the 
pulsation  may  be  accelerated,  and  the  blood  flow  with  abnor- 
mal rapidity,  under  the  intense  electric  action  of  a fever ; but 
the  Passions  are  never  aroused  without  communicating  the 
excitement  to  the  circulation  and  the  whole  organic  action. 

The  Passions  may  be  defined  to  be  those  strong  exercises 


72 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


or  movements  of  the  spirit  which  are  often  rendered  abnor- 
mal and  dangerous  by  their  suddenness,  irregularity,  or  in- 
tensity, and  wliich  are  chiefly  caused  by  the  contemplation 
of  outward  objects,  and  the  occurrence  of  unexpected  events. 
In  the  inferior  or  superficial  mind  the  Passions  may  be  rela- 
tively active  and  strong  ; but  such  persons  seldom  exhibit 
the  depth  of  feeling  which  characterizes  their  superiors.  In 
a mind  of  great  natural  endowments,  the  Passions — if  they 
obtain  the  ascendency  over  the  Reason — exhibit  correspond- 
ing intensity  and  power  ; sometimes  rising  to  the  sublime 
extremes  of  desperate  daring,  and  to  almost  supra-mortal 
achievements.  The  records  of  War  furnish  memorable  ex- 
amples ; and  when  the  Passions  excited  are  intense  hatred 
of  oppression,  and  earnest  love  of  Humanity,  the  contest  is 
sanctioned  by  the  common  sense  of  the  civilized  world ; while 
the  triumphant  actor  becomes,  in  some  sense,  a moral  hero, 
whose  deeds  are  approved,  and  whose  name  and  memory  are 
long  and  reverently  cherished. 

The  Passions  have  been  variously  classified  by  different 
authors.  Plato  comprehended  all  under  love  and  hatred ; 
while  Aristotle,  by  maintaining  that  each  one  of  the  passions 
is  productive  of  either  pleasure  or  pain,  thus  virtually  re- 
duced them  to  two  general  classes.  As  viewed  by  physi- 
cians and  physiologists,  they  have  been  divided  into  the  ex- 
citing and  the  depressing  passions  ; and  this  classification  has 
been  determined  by  tlieir  specific  effects  on  the  organic  func 
tions.  Whether  each  particular  passion  is  to  be  regarded  as 
an  essential,  innate  disposition  of  the  mind,  or  as  the  modi- 
fied action  of  the  faculties,  resulting  from  their  peculiar  com- 
bination in  the  individual,  is  a question  that  lias  given  rise 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETION.^  73 

to  numerous  theories  and  conjectures  which  scarcely  require 
our  attention,  since  they  are  rather  curious  than  instructive. 

The  substances  or  varieties  of  animal  matter,  chiefly  sepa- 
rated and  combined  from  the  elements  of  the  blood,  in  the 
processes  of  secretion,  are,  according  to  Bostock,  aqueous, 
mucous,  albuminous,  gelatinous,  fibrinous,  oleaginous,  resi- 
nous and  saline  ; all  of  which  are  comprised  and  classified 
in  the  brief  statement  of  Magendie  as  exhalations,  folliculai- 
and  glandular  secretions. 

Tlie  influence  of  mental  emotions  on  these  processes  in 
animal  chemistry  now  demand  our  attention.  No  matter  how 
many  passions  may  be  embraced  and  named  in  a precise 
classification,  they  are  comprehended  in  desire,  love,  joy — 
fear,  hatred,  sorrow— all  others  being  compounded  of  such 
as  are  included  in  this  specification.  Now,  as  the  circulation 
of  the  animal  fluids  is  directly  dependent  on  the  distribution 
of  the  electro-nervous  force,  it  follows  that  the  passions — by 
their  direct  action  on  the  nerve-aura — must  powerfully  influ- 
ence all  the  secretory  processes  of  the  system. 

Ethical  as  well  as  scientific  writers  have  observed  that 
those  states  of  passional  excitement,  in  which  love  exerts  a 
strong  influence  on  the  mind,  are  more  compatible  with  the 
laws  of  vital  harmony  than  such  as  spring  from  resentment 
and  exhibit  malevolence.  This  is  doubtless  true  ; and  yet 
when  love  is  not  refined  and  intellectual,  but  sensuous  or 
passionate — exhibiting  far  less  of  rational  affection  than  of 
animal  desire — it  has  an  immeasurable  and  dangerous  power 
over  the  vital  forces  and  fluids.  It  causes  protracted  and 
tumultuous  action  at  the  nerve-centers,  with  such  an  exces- 
sive determination  of  the  electric  forces  to  certain  portions 


71 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS 


of  the  delicate  and  complicated  glandular  structure,  as  often 
results  in  constant  abnormal  excitability,  and  a total  suspen- 
sion of  the  natural  functions.  Many  pious  and  passionate 
people — who  respect  “ the  statute  in  such  cases  made  and 
provided,’’  at  the  same  time  they  religiously  obey  the  Ten 
Commandments — have  no  proper  control  over  their  desires. 
Their  conventional  ideas  of  fidelity  are  about  as  good  for 
body  and  soul  as  a sIoav  but  fatal  poison.  Love — though  in 
a true  sense  it  is  one  with  Life — becomes  a destroying  flame 
that  dissipates  the  fluids,  interrupts  the  organic  harmony, 
blunts  the  mental  faculties,  obscures  the  moral  and  spiritual 
perceptions,  and  enervates  the  whole  man.  Such  people 
often  kill  themselves  and  others  in  a most  reputable  way, 
and  thus  illustrate  the  relations  of  suicide  and  homicide  to 
the  legal  standard  of  propriety  and  virtue. 

The  domination  of  a single  passion  over  the  mind  and 
character — especially  when  it  stimulates  the  secretions  in  a 
particular  part  of  the  body — is  liable  to  interrupt  the  proper 
action  of  the  glandular  system,  and  thus  to  prevent  the  appro- 
priate distribution  of  the  fluids.  There  are  certain  states  of 
feeling  and  habits  of  life  which  may  increase  the  action  of  the 
exhalent  vessels,  and  diminish  that  of  the  absorbents,  causing 
an  effusion  of  serum.  This  diseased  state  of  the  system,  and 
unnatural  accumulation  of  water,  is  ordinarily  denominated 
dropsy.  If  the  aqueous  accumulation  be  about  the  brain, 
it  is  known  as  hydrocephalus,  and  it  is  also  distinguished  by 
various  other  names,  which  are  determined  by  the  organs  or 
parts  of  the  system  affected,  and  by  its  complication  with 
other  forms  of  disease.  When,  from  the  inllucnce  of  the 
passions,  or  from  other  causes,  the  normal  action  of  the  ab- 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS.  76 

(»* 

sorbing  and  secreting  vessels  is  permanently  disturbed,  the 
waste  or  effete  matter  of  the  body  is  liable  to  be  deposited 
at  the  points  of  electrical  convergence,  producing  a variety 
of  morbid  states  and  affections.  When  the  processes  of  se- 
cretion are  thus  deranged,  the  proper  elimination  of  the 
several  forms  of  animal  matter  is  rendered  impossible.  If 
obstructions  occur  in  the  sacs  and  ducts  of  the  glandular 
system,  so  that  the  matter — to  be  modified  for  the  purposes 
of  animal  life,  or  to  be  expelled  from  the  body  as  useless — 
is  not  properly  prepared  and  absorbed,  or  excreted^  as  the 
case  may  require,  the  derangement  may  result  in  adipose  sar- 
coma^ a variety  of  glandular  swellings,  or  tumors,  strumous 
tubercles,  or  a diseased  state  of  the  system  generally,  if  the 
morbid  matter  be  more  widely  and  equally  distributed.  Thus 
a vital  organ — on  account  of  its  original  disproportion,  or 
from  incidental  causes — may  become  a point  of  electrical 
concentration,  or  a magnetic  center,  to  which  the  elements 
may  be  unduly  attracted.  Fluids,  which  should  have  been 
elsewhere  secreted,  or  expelled  frofn  the  body  through  ap- 
propriate channels,  accumulate,  by  an  electro-hydraulic  pro- 
cess, beyond  the  utmost  capacity  of  the  absorbing  vessels, 
and  the  excretory  processes  of  the  system,  to  remove  them  ; 
and  thus  the  vital  harmony  is  disturbed,  and  the  organic 
action  may  be  fatally  deranged. 

The  power  of  the  Passions  to  influence  the  processes  of 
vital  chemistry  is  strikingly  displayed  in  the  change  that 
occurs  in  the  color  of  the  hair,  in  consequence  of  intense 
feeling  or  strong  cerebral  excitement.  Though  this  change 
is  generally  gradual,  it  is  sometimes  sudden  and  almost  in- 

6 


7G  MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 

staiitaneous.  Our  observations  on  the  relations  of  elec- 
tricity to  vital  force  and  chemical  action,  suggest  the  proba- 
ble causes  of  all  similar  phenomena.  A chemical  analysis 
of  the  hair  discovers — among  other  important  constituents 
— phosphate  and  carbonate  of  lime,  iron,  oxide  of  mangan- 
ese, and  sulphur.  The  substance  last  named  enters  very 
largely  into  its  composition,  and  its  presence  is  doubtless  in- 
dispensable to  this  curious  phenomenon,  which  I will  here- 
undertake  to  explain.  Any  physical  derangement  or  mental 
excitement,  producing  a strong  determination  of  the  vital 
forces  to  the  brain,  is  liable  to  develop  an  electro-chemical 
action,  in  which  the  oil  containing  the  coloring  matter  of  the 
hair  may  be  absorbed  by  the  sulphur,  which  is  then  perceived 
through  its  transparent  envelope.  Thus  hair  of  all  colors 
and  of  every  conceivable  shade,  assumes  the  same  appear- 
ance. It  is  well  known  that  extreme  fear,  or,  indeed,  any 
violent  passion  that  occasions  an  undue  determination  of  the 
nervous  circulation  to  the  head,  is  liable  to  produce  this 
mysterious  change.  It  has  also  been  observed  that  fear  some- 
times causes  the  hair  to  stand  on  end,  and  we  are  obliged  to 
refer  this  fact  to  the  same  cause.  Every  novice  in  electrical 
science  knows  that  electricity  will  produce  this  effect.  It  is 
only  necessary  to  insulate  a man,  and  pass  an  electric  current 
through  or  over  him,  and  each  separate  hair  will  assume  an 
erect  position.  Now,  if  powerful  cerebral  excitements  de- 
velop the  same  results,  we  may  reasonably  infer  the  presence 
and  action  of  the  same  agent.  This  inference  derives  addi- 
tional confirmation  from  the  fact,  that  if  you  pass  the  hand 
over  the  cranium  of  the  man,  or  along  the  spinal  column  of 


INFLUENCE  OP  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS.  77 


a cat,  while  the  nervous  forces  are  thus  excited,  electrical 
sparks  may  be  distinctly  perceived.  ’ 

There  are  other  facts  which  forcibly  illustrate  the  writer^s 
theory,  and  the  following  extract  from  an  influential  public 
journal  furnishes  a striking  example  : 

A most  extraordinary  effect,  produced  by  electricity,  lately  happened  at 
one  of  the  electric  telegraph  stations  in  France.  A gentleman — employed  in 
one  of  the  principal  offices — was  in  communication  with  one  of  his  colleagues, 
when  the  electric  wire  he  was  using  happened  to  relax,  and  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  his  arm.  The  current  was  passing  through  it,  and  the  employe  sus- 
tained a violent  shock,  which  raised  him  from  his  chair  and  threw  him  vio- 
lently through  a window  opening  on  a garden.  When  he  recovered  his 
senses  he  could  not  recollect  his  adventure,  and  could  only  be  convinced  of 
it  by  perceiving  that  his  hair  and  beard,  which  were  formerly  of  a beautiful 
jet  black,  had  become  in  various  places  as  white  as  snow.” 

In  this  case  the  chemical  action  and  the  consequent  change 
in  the  color  of  the  hair  resulted,  perhaps,  from  the  electrical 
discharge  from  the  battery  through  the  telegraphic  wire  ; 
and  yet,  it  must  be  admitted,  that  it  may  have  been  produced 
by  the  sudden  and  powerful  determination  of  vital  electri- 
city to  the  brain,  occasioned  by  the  shock.  Whether  it  was 

^ Professor  Beckeinsteiner’s  directions  respecting  the  mode  of  experiment-^ 
ing  on  animals,  and  the  surprising  results  of  his  own  experiments,  are  thus 
described : “ When  the  temperature  is  below  thirty-two  degrees,  the  wind 
north  and  the  sky  clear,  expose  a cat  to  the  cold  until  bis  fur  lies  close  to 
the  skin  and  appears  greasy  5 expose  your  hands  to  make  them  equally  cold  ; 
then  take  the  animal  on  your  knees,  apply  the  fingers  of  your  left  hand  on 
its  breast,  and  pass  your  right  hand  down  its  back,  pressing  moderately  ; at 
the  fifth  or  sixth  pass  you  will  receive  a slight  electric  shock.  At  first  the 
cat  appears  pleased,  but  as  soon  as  it  feels  the  shock  it  jumps  away,  and  will 
not  endure  the  repetition  of  the  experiment  the  same  day.  After  the  exped- 
ment  the  animal  looks  tired  ; some  days  after  it  loses  its  appetite,  seeks  soli- 
tude, drinks  water  at  rare  intervals,  and  dies  in  a fortnight.  The  same  exper- 
iment succeeds  with  rabits,  and  they  die  the  same  day.” 


f8 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  external  or  internal  current,  or  both,  that  wrought  the 
change,  we  may  not  absolutely  determine  ; but  the  relations 
of  electricity  to  the  phenomenon  are  sufficiently  obvious, 
whatever  hypothesis  we  may  be  pleased  to  adopt. 

The  truth  of  my  general  idea  is  still  further  supported 
by  the  fact,  that  this  change  in  the  color  of  the  hair  is  first 
manifested  over  those  portions  of  the  brain  which  are  most 
exercised.  Hence  the  change  is  unequal  in  all  persons  who 
are  subject  to  violent  impulses,  or  distinguished  for  angular 
mental  developments ; at  the  same  time  the  process  not  only 
occurs  at  a later  period  in  life,  but  it  is  gradual  and  uniform 
among  persons  who  possess  a calm  unruffled  disposition. 
When  the  cerebral  development  is  harmonious,  and  the  vital 
forces  are  equally  distributed,  the  change  never  occurs  at  an 
early  period  in  life  ; but  with  the  victims  of  religious  mono- 
mania and  of  hopeless  love,  it  is  usually  very  rapid,  while 
the  raven  locks  of  certain  terror-stricken  ones  have  become 
white  in  a moment.  I will  here  cite  a single  additional  fact 
in  illustration  of  my  theory.  While  the  writer  was  giving 
lectures  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  on  the  general  subject  of  this 
treatise — some  ten  years  since — a lady  who  was  suffering 
from  severe  physical  derangement  came  to  ask  advice  re- 
specting her  health.  She  was  a total  stranger.  Glancing 
at  her  head,  I discovered  that  the  hair  over  those  portions  of 
the  brain  wherein  the  phrenologists  locate  V eneration  and 
Marvelousness,  were  almost  white,  while  in  the  region  of 
Hope  it  was  still  dark  as  the  plumes  of  the  raven.  Madam, 

I observed,  you  have  been  fearfully  excited  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  She  gazed  at  me  a moment  with  a feeling  of  evi- 
dent astonishment,  and  then  proceeded  to  say  tliat  slic  had 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  ON  THE  SECRETIONS.  79 

been  greatly  disturbed  by  the  doctrines  and  preaching  of 
“ Father  Miller/’  and,  on  this  account,  that  she  had  formerly 
been  in  the  lunatic  asylum  I 

Admitting  the  general  correctness  of  this  philosophy,  it 
will  appear  that  the  hair  undergoes  this  change  in  old  age 
because  the  vital  electric  forces  *are  gradually  withdrawn 
from  the  extremities — from  all  external  surfaces  and  portions 
of  the  body— and  gathered  up  at  the  brain,  where  the  life- 
principle  remains  to  the  last. 

It  must  be  sufiSciently  obvious  to  every  observer  of  vital 
phenomena,  that  the  passions  act  directly  on  the  nervous 
forces,  or  the  animal  electricity  of  the  body  ; and  hence  all 
the  delicate  and  mysterious  processes  of  secretion  must  be 
immediately  and  powerfully  influenced  by  the  passions.  But 
of  their  specific  relations  to  such  electro-chemical  changes, 
I can  not  treat  at  greater  length  ; nor  would  the  larger  num- 
ber of  ray  readers  be  likely  to  be  interested  in  the  minute 
details  of  the  subject.  I will,  however,  further  suggest,  by 
a brief  and  imperfect  statement,  some  of  the  more  obvious 
effects  of  the  passions  on  the  secretions. 

J ealousy,  by  its  tendency  to  increase  the  biliary  secretion, 
is  liable  to  overburden  the  hepatic  duct  and  its  tributaries  ; 
grief  so  acts  on  the  lachrymal  gland,  that  tears  are  secreted 
and  profusely  discharged ; while  excessive  joy,  and  other 
strong  mental  emotions,  sometimes  produce  the  same  or  simi- 
lar effects.  The  functions  of  the  skin  are  often  strongly  in- 
fluenced by  the  Passions.  In  this  manner  the  insensible  ex-‘ 
halations  from  the  body  are  increased  and  diminished.  Pro- 
fuse perspiration  sometimes  accompanies  or  succeeds  violent 
mental  emotions.  The  urinary  secretion  is  thus  varied  in 


80 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


quantity,  and,  doubtless,  in  its  chemical  constituents,  by  the 
influence  of  the  Passions  on  the  electrical  forces  that  deter 
mine  all  the  changes  in  the  subtile  chemistry  of  the  living 
body.  It  is-  a well  known  fact  that  the  misdirected  action 
or  improper  excitement  of  the  mind,  immediately  after  par- 
turition, has  resulted  in  the  sudden  suppression  o'f  the  lochia, 
and  a repulsion  of  the  lacteous  secretion  from  the  breasts. 
Indeed  such  is  the  power  of  the  Passions  to  produce  electro- 
chemical effects,  in  this  direction,  that  a sudden  fit  of  anger 
in  the  mother  has  produced  violent  spasms  in  the  child  at 
her  bosom. 

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing  observations,  the  importance 
of  restraining  the  Passions,  and  giving  them  a wise  direc- 
tion, can  not  be  too  highly  estimated.  If,  in  this  respect, 
we  fail  in  the  government  of  ourselves,  we  may  extinguish 
the  vital  flame  with  a flood  ; we  may  dissipate  the  life-fluids 
and  be  consumed  by  inward  fires  ; or,  at  least,  the  tempest 
of  uncontrollable  passion  is  left  to  break  the  essential  har- 
mony of  our  being,  while  Discordia — daughter  of  Night 
and  sister  of  Death — smites  and  snaps  the  chords  of  Life. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT. 

Influence  of  Mind  over  the  Vital  Forces — How  it  deranges  the  Functions  and 
destroys  Life — Its  Relations  to  Congestion,  Paralysis,  and  other  forms  of 
Disease — Fatal  Consequences  of  false  Impressions — Hydrophobia  produced 
by  the  Mind — A fatal  Bleeding  without  the  loss  of  a drop  of  blood — Exam- 
ples cited  by  Dr.  Moore — A Man  shot  dead  with  blank  cartridges — Death  of 
another  on  the  block— How  a Pestilence  may  be  arrested— Three  fatal  cases 
of  Cholera  as  the  result  of  the  Mind’s  action — An  illustrative  Fable — A 
Man  killed  by  an  ungovernable  Temper — Irritable  Children  and  weak 
nerves — Mistakes  at  Coroners’ Inquests — The  Broken  Harp. 

the  mind  exerts  a mysterious  and  wonderful  control 
■ over  the  body,  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  who  has  ob- 
served the  relations  of  its  faculties  and  affections  to  physio- 
logical phenomena.  The  electro-chemical  changes  that  occur 
in  the  vital  laboratories  are  rendered  irregular  or  uniform 
by  the  prevailing  states  and  incidental  exercises  of  the  Mind. 
The  most  destructive  elements  in  the  physical  world,  when 
left  to  spend  their  whole  force  on  the  unprotected  human 
body,  are  scarcely  more  disastrous  in  their  effects  than  the 
misdirected  action  of  its  powers  ; at  the  same  time  the  life- 
forces  may  be  augmented  and  equalized,  and  the  wasting 
form  mysteriously  renewed  by  the  appropriate  exercise  and 
right  direction  of  the  Mind. 

The  fact  is  thus  confirmed  by  universal  experience,  that 

/ 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  functions  of  life  are  influenced — accelerated,  retarded  or 
arrested — by  the  mental  action  oft  the  bodily  organs.  And 
as  disease  has  its  origin  in  a disturbance  of  the  vital  forces, 
and  consequent  derangement  of  the  circulation,  we  at  once 
dis^cover  the  vast  importance  of  mental  harmony  to  physical 
health.  Many  persons  become  diseased  from  believing  they 
are  so  already.  In  a highly'nervous  organization  the  action 
of  mind  may  be  so  intense,  and  the  body  so  easily  impressed 
as  to  generate  any  conceivable  form  of  disease  in  this  way. 
Any  powerful  mental  impression  will  generally  leave  its 
image,  more  or  less  perceptible,  on  the  physical  constitution. 
Thus  a jealous,  unsocial,  or  melancholy  disposition,  will  be 
likely  to  occasion  bilious  derangement.  Extreme  fear,  anger, 
or  any  other  violent  passion,  will  expose  the  system  to  spas- 
modic attacks  ; while  an  anxious,  sympathetic  and  restless 
state  of  mind  will  inevitably  induce  nervous  diseases. 

Among  the  causes  that  act  on  and  modify  the  electrical 
conditions  of  the  body,  there  is  not  one  that  exerts  a mightier 
influence  than  the  Mind  itself.  Having  a direct  control  over 
the  immediate  agent  of  vital  motion,  it  affects  the  distri- 
bution of  all  the  fluids,  and  determines  many  of  the  physio- 
logical changes  that  occur.  The  mode  of  this  connection, 
between  the  mental  and  vital  action,  will  admit  of  a philo- 
sophical explanation.  It  is  well  known  that  electricity  ac- 
celerates the  motion  of  the  fluids.  If  you  discliarge  an 
electric  current  through  a siphon  while  a stream  of  water 
is  passing,  the  water  will  be  driven  out  with  great  force, 
moving  in  the  direction  of  the  electric  current.  That  the 
distribution  of  vital  electricity — by  tlie  voluntary  and  invol- 
untary powers  of  the  mind — lias  the  same  eflcct  on  tlie  blood 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTDUCTTVE  AGENT. 


83 


in  tliG  arteries,  and  on  the  circulation  of  the  animal  fluids 
generally,  is  equally  true,  and  is  confirmed  by  a long  course 
of  observation.  A single  fact  will  suffice  to  illustrate  this 
point.  In  all  surgical  operations  performed  while  the  patient 
is  in  a state  of  physical  insensibility,  whether  induced  by 
magnetic  coma  or  otherwise,  the  loss  of  blood  is  inconsider- 
able. In  such  cases,  the  mind’s  action  being  measurably  sus- 
pended, the  electrical  forces  are  not  disturbed,  and  the  equi- 
librium of  the  circulation  is  not  materially  interrupted.  But 
when  the  same  operation  is  performed  on  a conscious,  sensi- 
tive subject,  the  mind  is  of  course  concentrated  at  the  seat 
of  the  injury  ; the  nervous  forces  and  the  blood  necessarily 
exhibit  the  same  tendency,  and  the  patient  is  liable  to  bleed 
copiously,  and,  perhaps,  may  lose  his  life  from  excessive 
hemorrhage. 

I am  not  unconscious  of  the  power  of  the  elements  on 
man.  I know  that, the  fluids  of  animal  bodies  may  be  sud- 
denly dissipated  by  the  frost  and  the  fire.  But  the  Mind, 
when  misdirected,  is  not  less  powerful  and  mortal  in  its 
action.  When,  for  example,  a person  is  suddenly  startled 
and  terrified,  the  motive  power  is  driven  back  from  the  sur- 
face and  the  extremities  to  tlie  brain,  which  is  so  powerfully 
surcharged  as  frequently  to  cause  dizziness,  sometimes  tem- 
porary insanity,  and  we  have  well-authenticated  accounts  of 
persons  who  have  instantly  expired,  so  terrible  has  been 
the  shock  occasioned  by  this  violent  determination  of  the 
nervo-electric  forces  to  the  brain.  That  precisely  this 
physiological  change  does  occur,  is  evident  from  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  : First,  the  partial  or  total  loss  of 
muscular  energy  in  the  extremities,  appears  to  demonstrate 


84 


MAN  AMD  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  absence  of  that  electric  agent  on  which  all  muscular 
power  is  made  to  depend.  Second,  increased  motion  in  the 
region  of  the  heart  and  the  brain.  The  accelerated  arterial 
action,  and  the  intense  cerebral  excitement  as  evinced  by 
the  hurried  and  irregular  character  of  the  mental  functions, 
furnish  evidence  not  less  convincing  that  the  motive  power 
is  concentrated  at  the  seat  of  life.  ^ 

Having  proved  by  repeated  references  to  scientific  experi- 
ments, that  what  is  Usually  denominated  the  nervous  fluid  in 
animal  bodies,  is  a subtile  form  of  electricity,  and  that  the 
same  is  evolved  from  all  parts  of  the  system  where  there  is 
either  chemical  or  mechanical  action,  I shall  now  appeal  to 
facts  to  illustrate  the  irresistible  influence  of  this  electrical 
medium — agent  of  the  Mind — in  the  production  of  the 
greatest  physiological  changes  of  which  the  human  body  is 
susceptible.  The  facts  illustrative  of  this  point  are  numer- 
ous and  conclusive,  only  a few  of  which  can  be  comprehended 
in  the  present  citation. 

The  writer’s  views  respecting  the  power  of  the  Mind  over 
the  electro-nervous  currents  and  the  arterial  circulation,  will 
receive  strong  confirmation  from  the  further  examination 
of  the  suh'  the  careful  observer  it  will  be  obvious, 

tliat  menli.  "^^‘ofiuce  correspond- 

ing physical  u.  . , ucnt"..  As  intense,  io,*  , v rjeiii  iiate, 
sudden  jealousy,  exti  rmie  (>  prehension,  or  any  Du  vs;rful 
mental  impulse,  will  • tiy  interrupt  the  vital  equilibrium. 

1 That  the  cerebral  action  is  greatly  increased  under  such  circumstances,  is 
rendered  evident  from  the  experiences  of  persons  rescued  from  drowning, 
who  assure  us  that,  under  the  apprehension  of  immediate  death,  the  mind  acts 
with  such  incredible  rapidity  that  the  whole  history  of  the  drowning  man 
passes  before  him  in  a single  moment. 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT. 


85 


it  follows  that  the  most  aggravated  forms  of  disease  may 
have  their  origin  in  the  Mind.  If  the  individual  is  more 
distinguished  for  vigor  of  thought  than  for  inteasity  of  feel- 
ing, the  unbalanced  tide  of  the  circulation  will  flow  to  the 
brain,  and  be  accompanied  by  a strange  cerebral  excitement 
and  a flushed  countenance.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  person 
be  characterized  by  blind,  unreasoning  passion,  the  vital 
torrent  may  rush  to  the  heart,  leaving  the  visage  pale,  and 
causing  an  accelerated  arterial  action.  Not  only  a momen- 
tary functional  derangement  is  thus  produced,  but  conges- 
tion, paralysis,  insanity  and  (Jeath,  often  occur  in  conse- 
quence of  this  direct  power  of  the  mind  over  the  elemental 
principles  and  organic  action  of  the  body. 

To  insure  uniform  health  and  a protracted  earthly  exist- 
ence, the  corporeal  development  should  be  commensurate 
with  the  increasing  mental  activity  and  power.  Any  great 
disproportion  will  be  found  to  be  incompatible  with  mental 
and  vital  harmony.  The  capacity  and  intensity  of  the 
Mind’s  action  is  not  unfrequently  the  cause  of  increasing 
physical  debility,  and  a premature  dissolution  of  the  body. 
Like  powerful  machinery  in  a frail  building,  the  Mind  shakes 
the  slender  fabric  in  every  part.  At  length  in  some  great 
emergency — when  the  storms  of  life  break  over  us  with 
terrific  power,  calling  for  herculean  effort — the  mind  sud- 
denly breaks  away  from  its  frail  and  mortal  fastenings,  and  \ 
the  startled  voyager  finds  himself  beyond  the  vicissitudes  of 
Time — floating  at  ease  and  gracefully  in  his  immortal  argosy 
— with  an  Angel  at  the  helm,  and  the  great  ocean  of  the 
limitless  Life  before  him. 

The  intimate  connection  of  the  Mind  with  the  vital  prin- 


85 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ciple  is  forcibly  illustrated  by  innumerable  cases  of  disease, 
and  many  deaths,  occurring  coincidentally  with  the  pre- 
vious anticipations  of  the  victims.  Whenever  such  fears 
and  expectations  are  fostered,  they  are  liable  to  acquire 
a dangerous  influence  over  the  mind,  and,  in  the  end  to  pro- 
duce the  apprehended  physical  results;  Strong  mental 
impressions  are  sure  to  leave  their  images  on  the  body,  more 
or  less  distinctly,  according  to  the  active  power  of  the  one, 
and  the  intrinsic  susceptibility  of  the  other.  The  mem- 
branes are  delicate  chemical  surfaces,  and  the  Mind — by  the 
forces  at  its  command — electmtypes  the  forms  and  shadows 
of  its  thoughts  and  feelings.  It  is  possible  to  produce  any 
physiological  change  or  condition  which  may  be  compre- 
hended in  a distinct  mental  conception  or  impression.  Let 
a number  of  persons  meet  the  same  individual  during  the 
day,  and — without  exciting  a suspicion  of  collusion  or  mis- 
chief— assuVe  him  that  he  appears  to  be  ill,  and  he  will  soon 
be  seriously  indisposed.  This  action  of  the  mind  has,  in 
several  instances,  been  carelessly  excited  and  manifested  by 
such  startling  and  painful  results  as  should  suffice  to  admon- 
ish the  ignorant  and  tlioughtless  operator  that  all  similar 
experiments  are,  at  least  in  his  hands,  attended  with  extreme 
danger  to  the  health  and  life  of  the  subject. 

This  power  of  mental  action  and  association  produces 
many  sui^prising  effects.  Impress  the  mind  of  the  magnetic 
sleeper  that  he  must  wake  from  his  trance  at  a particular 
liour,  and  the  vital  force  will  so  react  on  the  body — under 
the  mental  impression — that  it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to 
sleep  beyond  the  prescribed  limit.  Moreover,  while  it  re- 
quires a powerful  effort  to  driyc  a man  out  of  his  eartlily 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT. 


87 


house,  so  long  as  he  is  determined  to  remain  therein,  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  restrain  or  keep  him  when  he  has  once 
resolved  to  depart.  The  system  can  in  ho  way  be  more 
speedily  and  fatally  deranged  than  by  fixing  in  the  mind  a 
settled  and  intense  conviction  that  the  body  is  exposed  to 
the  impending  evils  of  disease  and  death.  Indeed,  a dose  of 
arsenic  in  the  stomach,  or  a rifle-ball  deposited  within  the 
pericardium,  would  scarcely  be  more  fatal  than  a positive 
impression  that  death  is  inevitable. 

Physicians  and  others  often  speak  of  those  who  merely 
fancy  or  imagine  that  they  are  ill.  If  they  mean  that  phy- 
sical disease,  in  such  cases,  originates  in  the  disordered  action 
of  the  mind,  the  writer  has  already  expressed  his  concur- 
rence ; but  if,  on  the  contrary,  such  forms  of  expression  are 
intended  to  imply  that  the  disease,  in  all  similar  examples, 
has  only  an  imaginary  existence,  I must  dispute  the  assump- 
tion, because  the  most  terrible  forms  of  vital  derangement 
are  induced  in  this  manner,  and  even  death  suddenly  evoked 
by  the  action  of  the  Mind.  Many  a business  man  has  been 
prostrated  by  a violent  nervous  or  bilious  attack,  in  conse- 
quence of  having  his  note  protested.  The  rates  of  exchange 
often  influence  the  appetite,  while  a rapid  decline  in  the 
price  of  stocks  may  occasion  a loss  of  flesh,  or  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  a chronic  diarrhea.  Large  payments — espe- 
cially when  money  is  worth  “ two  per  cent,  a month” — have 

tendency  to  relax  the  system,  while  “ bank  credits”  and 
“ bills  receivable”  possess  wonderful  tonic  properties. 

Many  persons  have  died  only  because  they  thought  their 
time  had  come.  Dr.  George  Moore  mentions  the  case  of  a 
woman  who  had  her  dress  torn  by  a dog  ; she  imagined  that 


S8 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  animal  was  rabid,  and  that  the  virus  had  been  communi- 
cated to  her  ; and,  strange  to  say,  her  death  occurred  soon 
after,  and  was  preceded  and  accompanied  by  symptoms  of 
hydrophobia,  so  marked  and  unmistakable  that  the  Medical 
Faculty  could  find  no  occasion  for  so  much  as  a technical 
distinction.  He  also  records  the  fact  that  John  Hunter,  a 
distinguished  anatomist,  ascribed  an  affection  of  the  heart, 
which  finally  terminated  his  life,  to  an  apprehension  that  he 
had  received  the  poison  into  his  system  while  employed  in 
dissecting  the  body  of  an  individual  who  had  died  of  hydro- 
phobia. ^ 

The  reader  has  doubtless  been  informed  of  the  nature  and 
the  results  of  an  experiment  made  on  a man  in  France  who 
had  been  condemned  for  a capital  offense.  Having  his  arm 
concealed  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  make  observa- 
tions through  the  sense  of  vision,  lhe  cuticle  was  slightly 
scratched,  without,  however,  drawing  so  much  as  a single 
drop  of  blood.  At  the  same  time  warm  water  was  poured 
over  the  arm  into  a receptacle.  Thus  the  senses  of  feeling 
and  hearing  were  made  to  aid  in  the  deception  ; and  under 
the  impression  that  he  must  inevitably  expire  from  the  loss 
of  blood,  he  actually  fainted  and  died.  It  is  also  said  of  a 
man  who  was  doomed  to  be  shot,  that  he  instantly  expired 
when  a number  of  soldiers — at  a word — disjcharged  blank 
cartridges  at  him  ; and  I have  somewhere  read  of  a person 
who  died  on  the  block,  thougli  the  executioner’s  axe  fell 
without  disturbing  a hair  of  his  head. 

During  the  prevalence  of  epidemic  diseases,  multitudes 


1 See  Dr.  Moore’s  treatise  on  “ The  Soul  and  the  Body.” — 228. 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT. 


89 


doubtless  fall  victims  to  tlieir  own  morbid  apprehensions. 
Nothing  can  be  more  important  under  such  circumstances 
than  to  create  a neiv  excitement  in  the  common  mind.  When 
the  black  banner  of  the  Destroyer  is  unfurled  in  the  sluggish 
atmosphere  of  the  doomed  city,  the  currents  of  thought  and 
feeling  all  tend  in  one  general  direction,  and  they  act  with 
startling  and  terrible  force  on  the  public  health  and  the  very 
springs  of  life.  On  such  an  occasion  a threatened  invasion, 
or  the  shock  of  an  earthquake,  might  check  the  pestilence 
and  save  the  lives  of  thousands.  Any  event  that  would  oc- 
casion a sudden  reaction  of  the  universal  mind  would  tend 
to  produce  a vital  equilibrium,  and  hence  to  change  the 
electro-chemical  and  physiological  conditions  to  a more 
normal  standard. 

The  destructive  power  of  the  Mind  is  strikingly  exhibited 
in  the  results  of  an  experiment  performed,  some  time  since, 
on  four  Russians  who  had  been  condemned  to  death  for 
political  offenses.  The  reader  may  have  seen  the  account 
that  originally  appeared  in  the  London  Medical  Times.  It 
is,  however,  too  important  as  an  illustration  of  my  subject 
to  be  omitted  in  this  connection.  Under  the  supervision  of 
distinguished  members  of  the  medical  profession,  the  con- 
victs were  permitted  to  occupy  beds  whereon  persons  had 
died  of  epidemic  cholera.  They  were  not,  however,  aware 
of  their  exposure  in  this  instance,  and  not  one  of  them  had 
the  disease.  Subsequently,  they  were  informed  that  they 
must  sleep  on  beds  which  had  been  occupied  by  cholera  pa- 
tients. But  in  this  case  the  heds  ivere  neiv,  and  had  never 
been  used  by  any  person  ; nevertheless,  under  the  more  po- 


90 


MAN  AND  HIS  EFLATIONS. 


tent  action  of  the  mind,  three  of  the  four  took  the  disease — ^ 
in  its  most  malignant  form — and  died  within  four  hours  ! 

Thus  we  perceive  that  absolute  contact  with  the  very 
elements  of  infection  were  powerless  to  injure  the  body, 
while  under  the  more  certain  and  fearful  action  of  mind  the 
disease  was  generated — death  suddenly  evoked,  and  his  mis- 
sion accomplished.  Numerous  cases  of  a similar  character 
may  be  found  in  medical  books  and  in  the  public  journals, 
while  innumerable  examples  occur  whereof  no  record  is 
made.  Verily  our  boasted  culture  and  the  advantages  of 
modern  civilization  are  turned  to  a poor  account  if  they  do 
but  expose  us  to  unnatural  ills,  and  thus  render  us  more 
miserable.  It  is  impossible  to  disguise  the  fact  that-  among 
savages  and  wild  beasts  disease  is  comparatively  unknown, 
while  civilized  man  is  cursed  with  a thousand  mortal  mal- 
adies. It  will  be  found  at  last  that  most  of  these  are  born 
of  the  Mind.  Ever  does  each  passing  thought  move  like  an 
incarnate  spirit  over  the  chords  of  life,  and  horrible  discords 
or  beautiful  harmonies  awaken  the  soul  as  they  echo  through 
the  mystical  courts  of  its  temple. 

Sometimes  an  important  truth  obtains  expression  in  the 
form  of  an  ingenious  fiction ; and  I find  a significant  illus- 
tration of  my  subject  in  an  Oriental  fable.  It  is  represented 
that  the  Spirit  of  the  Plague  once  met  an  Eastern  Prince, 
and  informed  him  that,  during  the  year,  he  should  remove 
ten  thousand  of  his  subjects.  Before  the  close  of  that  year 
one  hundred  thousand  died.  Meeting  the  Prince  again,  the 
Destroyer  reminded  him  of  the  fulfillment  of  his  prediction. 
“ But,’’  said  the  Prince,  “ you  have  taken  one  hundred  thou- 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT.  91 

sand.”  “Nay,”  rejoined  the  other,  “I  removed  only  ten 
thousand — Fear  took  the  restP 

Men  are  startled  when  Death  approaches  suddenly,  and 
they  pause  to  consider  the  reason  of  his  coming.  But  few 
are  conscious  that  in  the  thought  and  deed  of  every  day, 
men  solicit  his  untimely  presence.  The  evil  of  which  we 
speak — the  influence  of  mental  disturbances  on  the  functions 
of  life — is  not  most  terrible  where  it  is  most  strikingly  dis- 
played. To  a certain  extent — a fearful  extent  too — this  evil 
is  well  nigh  universal.  Millions  lay  the  foundations  of 
wasting  disease  by  yielding  perpetually  to  violent  impulses. 
A thousand,  trivial  circumstances  in  the  common  affairs  of 
life  are  permitted  to  disturb  the  equilibrium  of  mind,  and 
the  angry  thought  strikes  harshly  on  the  vital  chords  until 
the  instrument  is  unstrung,  and  Life’s  song  on  earth  is  hushed 
forever. 

How  strangely  are  we  conquered  by  little  things  ! The 
man  who  stood  firm  under  the  great  calamity — braving  the 
stormy  elements  like  some  great  rock  in  the  midst  of  the 
troubled  sea — now,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  bows  low  be- 
neath the  slightest  breath  of  misfortune.  Things  so  small 
that  he  would  be  ashamed  to  mention  them,  are  his  masters, 
and  he  their  slave.  I have  seen  a being  in  human  form, 
raving  as  though  he  were  possessed  of  a devil!  and,  on 
drawing  near,  I learned  of  the  bystanders  that  Nature  had 
not  made  his  horse  strong  enough  to  bear  the  burden  he 
imposed  ; and  for  this  cause  he  was  mad.  An  angry  spirit 
breathed  over  the  fountains  of  life,  until  the  vital  tide  rose 
in  a crimson  flood  and  submerged  the  brain — He  died  of 
congestion ! ^ 


92 


MAN  AND  HTS  RELATIONS. 


I have  been  in  many  a domestic  circle  where  the  woman — 
whose  mission  should  be  to  calm  the  little  discords  that 
break  the  harmony  of  social  life — would  lose  the  command  of 
her  temper  every  hour  in  the  day.  The  most  trifling  inci- 
dent was  sufficient  to  arouse  the  war-spirit  in  the  littl 
citadel ; and  small  missiles,  in  the  form  of  angry  looks  and 
wor^s — possibly  deeds — were  hurled  at  any  one,  as  though 
all  had  offended.  Much  the  good  woman  wondered  that  tlie 
children  were  cross,  and  that  she  was  herself  troubled  ivith 
weak  nerves  ! And  yet  seldom  indeed  has  any  one  lived 
thus,  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  who  was  not  hopelessly 
diseased. 

Anxiety,  like  an  omniverous  worm,  gnaws  at  the  root  of 
our  peace  ; Care,  like  an  ugly  old  hag,  stirs  the  fires  of  life 
to  put  them  out ; false  Pride  and  a selfish  Ambition  con- 
tribute to  waste  the  nation’s  health,  and  lead  to  a fearful 
prostitution  of  the  noblest  powers.  Some  die  of  chills 
brought  on  by  a cold  and  comfortless  faith  ; others  are  con- 
sumed with  the  burning  fever  of  a too  intense  devotion  ; 
while  many  take  a melancholy  ivhim,  and  give  up  the  ghost  as 
honorably  as  those  who  take  a rope,  or  prussic  acid.  Thus 
thousands  perish  every  year,  the  victims  of  spasmodic  emo- 
tions, and  the  abnormal  operations  of  a disorderly  mind. 
Many  of  them  expire  suddenly ; and,  at  the  coroner’s  in- 
quest, it  is  reported  that  they  died  of  disease  of  the  heart, 
congestion  of  the  brain,  excessive  hemorrhage,  or  sudden 
paralysis.  But  the  truth  is,  the  primary  causes  are  back  of 
all  such  physical  effects.  Some  die  from  extreme  fear ; 
others  from  intense  anger  ; others  still  from  fits  of  jealousy, 
or  from  a deep  and  silent  soi-row  ; many  arc  killed  by  an 


THE  MIND  AS  A DESTRUCTIVE  AGENT. 


93 


all-conquering  idea^  and  not  a few  from  that  ungovernable 
vet  hopeless  love  that,  like  accumulated  electric  forces  in  the 
midnight  sky,  must  rend  the 'cloudy  that  it  may  follow  its 
attraction  and  find  its  equilibrium. 

There  is  no  security  for  the  earthly  tenement  when  the 
reckless  occupant  kindles  a destroying  fire  within,  and 
suffers  the  flames  to  run  through  all  the  apartments.  If  a 
man  allows  himself  to  be  led  by  every  wild  impulse  and 
erratic  fancy,  or  if  his  disposition  be  like  gun-cotton,  he  is 
never  safe.  His  body  becomes  a kind  of  magazine  in  which 
the  passions  frequently  explode  and  shake  the  whole  build- 
ing. That  man’s  house  will  not  be  likely  to  last  long,  and 
he  should  pay  an  extra  premium  for  insurance.  The  impor- 
tance of  preserving  a calm  and  equal  frame  of  mind  will  be 
sufficiently  apparent,  if  we  but  know  and  remember  that  the 
most  frightful  physical  maladies  result  from  disturbed  mental 
conditions.  Look  at  any  person  of  ungovernable  temper^  y 
who  has  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  and  you  will  find  the 
body  a wreck.  The  nervous  system  resembles  a broken 
harp,  hung  in  a tree  that  has  been  scathed  by  fierce  light- 
nings. The  harp  is  still  swept  by  every  wind  of  passion, 
and,  in  the  fitful  vibrations  of  each  untoned  string,  a dismal 
spirit  utters  its  mournful  wail  I 


CHAPTER  IX. 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OP  THE  HITMAN  MIND. 

Unreasonable  confidence  in  Drugs — The  Renovating  Principle  in  Man — The 
restorative  process — Its  relations  to  the  Mind — Influence  of  outward  con- 
ditions— Consequences  of  Opposite  Mental  States — Total  relaxation  and 
inactivity  dangerous — Faith  superior  to  Physic —Relation  of  Amulets, 
Prayers,  Incantations,  etc.,  to  physiological'efiects — Importance.of  giving 
a right  direction  to  the  Mind — Health  found  in  a pleasant  Aromatic — 
Disease  removed  with  a hot  Poker — The  Paper-cure— A Psychological 
Emetic — Jesus  observed  the  Psycho-dynamic  Laws — Absurdity  of  the 
theories  of  popular  Materialism. 

The  true  philosophy  of  disease,  comprehending  its  causes 
and  their  action  within  the  sphere  of  organic  relation  and 
dependence  ; also  the  relative  efficacy  of  physical  and  mental 
agents  in  its  treatment,  and  the  natural  methods  of  physical 
restoration, have  been  but  very  imperfectly  understood  From 
reading  of  the  wonderful  virtues  of  certain  nostrums,  as  well 
as  from  the  avidity  with  which  thousands  swallow  pills  and 
powders,  one  might  almost  fancy  that  health,  and  life,  and 
perhaps  immortality^  are  to  be  purchased  at  the  drug  shops. 
This  state  of  things  does  not  indicate  an  intelligent  per- 
ception of  the  laws  of  life  and  health.  On  the  contrary,  it 
evinces  a profound  and  almost  universal  ignorance  of  the 
whole  subject,  notwithstanding  its  intimate  relations  to  the 
most  vital  interests  of  the  present  life. 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 


95 


Here,  I apprehend,  is  an  evil  as  strongly  rooted  as  the 
pernicious  customs  of  our  imperfect  civilization,  and  as  mis- 
chievous as  the  perverted  habits  of  the  people.  Perhaps  1 
can  not  render  a more  essential  service,  in  this  connection, 
than  by  exposing  this  evil,  while,  at  the  same  time,  I offer 
some  suggestions  concerning  the  nature  of  the  restorative 
principle  and  the  renovating  powers  of  the  mind. 

Let  me  observe,  in  transitu^  that  the  reader  must  not  ex- 
pect me  to  practice  the  peculiar  circumspection  which  prompts 
certain  writers  to  stand  at  a great  distance  from  a difficult 
theme.  I shall  hope  to  be  forgiven  if  I do  not  approach  the 
subject  with  all  the  caution  and  reserve  which  may  seem  to 
be  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  seeing  that,  in  its  discussion, 
so  many  scientific  men  have  already  exhausted  their  learn- 
ing, and  ignorant  ones  have  exposed  their  folly. 

The  renovating  principle^  or  restorative  power ^ has  no  place 
in  medicine : it  exists  in  man,  and  is  manifested  in  and 
through  the  living  organization. 

It  is  well  known  that  when  any  part  of  the  body  is  im- 
paired, by  accident,  or  otherwise.  Nature,  without  delay, 
commences  to  repair  the  injury.  If,  for  example,  you  lacer- 
ate a muscle,  an  unusual  tendency  of  the  vital  forces  to  the 
injured  part  will  at  once  be  perceptible.  This  determination 
of  the  electric  forces  of  the  living  body  increases  the  molecu- 
lar deposits  which  finally  unite  the  dissevered  portions  of 
the  muscle  as  firmly  as  before.  When  a bone  is  fractured, 
Nature  employs  substantially  the  same  process,  and  generally 
with  similar  results.  If  one  organ  of  sense  be  destroyed,  or 
rendered  inoperative,  the  other  senses  are  usually  quickened, 
so  as  to  afford  at  least  a partial  compensation  or  indemnity 


96 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


for  the  loss  sustained.  Thus  it  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
renovating  power  is  in  Man^  and  that  it  constitutes  one  of 
the  essential  laws  of  his  constitution . 

Nature,  I know,  may  be  assisted — -by  various  extrinsic 
means  and  measures — in  her  efforts  to  recover  the  normal 
exercise  of  her  powers.  But  the  bandage,  applied  to  a flesh 
wound,  only  serves  to  protect  it  from  the  action  of  the  at- 
mosphere ; an  internal  vital  power  is  required  to  make  the 
wounded  member  whole  again.  The  appendages  applied  by 
the  surgeon  to  a broken  limb,  subserve  no  higher  purpose 
than  to  keep  it  in  place,  while  nature  performs  the  more 
important  office  of  uniting  the  bone.  In  like  manner,  when 
any  internal  organ  becomes  diseased,  or  a general  functional 
derangement  occurs,  we  employ  remedial  agents  in  vain, 
unless  Nature  summons  her  forces  to  the  work  of  expelling 
the  evil.  All  that  she  requires  at  our  hands  is,  that  we  aid 
in  removing  the  obstacles  we  have  thrown  in  her  way.  And 
when  the  resources  of  modern  science  and  art  are  fairly  ex- 
hausted, the  doctors  are  obliged  to  leave  Nature  to  conquer 
the  disease,  and  she  often  accomplishes  her  task,  not  only 
without  their  aid,  but  in  spite  of  their  opposition. 

The  power  of  the  mind,  as  exhibited  in  the  application  of 
the  vital  forces  to  the  organs  of  the  body,  has  already  been 
variously  illustrated.  Moreover,  that  the  mind’s  action,  when 
misdirected  or  greatly  intensified,  is  capable  of  producing 
physical  effects  of  the  most  startling  and  fatal  character,  is 
rendered  obvious  from  our  investigation  of  the  laws  of  vital 
motion,  and  especially  by  the  illustrative  facts  contained  in 
the  last  Chapter.  That  disease,  in  its  most  aggravated 
forms,  occurs  from  mental  as  Avell  as  from  pliysical  causes, 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 


97 


will  not  be  questioned  ; and  that  Death  often  approaches 
suddenly,  or  gradually  retires  from  our  presence  at  the  man- 
date of  the  kingly  Mind,  is  scarcely  less  apparent  to  the 
thoughtful  observer.  Indeed,  no  mere  physical  agent  can  so 
powerfully  influence  the  distribution  of  the  electro-nervous 
forces,  and,  consequently,  the  health  and  life  of  the  body. 

But  if  the  abnormal  exercise  and  the  misdirected  action 
of  the  human  faculties  and  affections  involve  such  disastrous 
consequences  to  the  body,  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that, 
where  the  mind  acts  consistently  with  the  laws  of  life  and 
health,  rightly  distributing  the  vital  motive  power,  it  must 
inevitably  become  the  most  efficient  agent  in  the  treatment 
of  disease,  and  in  the  removal  of  all  the  causes  of  vital 
inharmony.  I hazard  nothing  in  affirming  that  many  forms 
of  disease  may  be  far  more  effectually  treated  by  the  appli- 
cation of  mental  forces  than  by  the  use  of  physical  agents. 
If  the  mind,  when  misdirected,  occasions  an  irregular  organic 
motion  and  diseased  condition  of  the  body,  it  can  only  be 
necessary  to  reverse  or  change  its  action,  while  we  preserve 
the  strength  and  intensity  of  the  mental  function,  and  the 
disease  will  be  arrested  and  removed. 

There  are  certain  states  of  the  public  mind  which  exert  a 
great  sanitary  influence.  When  the  season  is  fruitful,  and 
the  hopes  of  the  husbandman  are  more  than  realized  ; when 
the  spirit  of  a living  enterprise  is  in  all  the  wheels  and  springs 
of  our  complicated  mechanism  ; when  Commerce  spreads 
her  snowy  pinions  over  all  the  rivers  and  seas  ; when  the 
laborer  goes  to  his  toil  with  an  elastic  step,  and  returns  with 
a joyful  song  ; when  the  world  is  at  peace,  and  every  im- 


98 


MAN  AND  HTS  RELATIONS. 


portant  branch  of  national  industry  is  stimulated,  inspiring 
confidence  in  the  universal  mind  and  heart,  there  will  be  less 
business  for  physicians,  nurses,  coroners  and  undertakers. 
Comparatively  few  persons  are  likely  to  be  sick,  so  long  as 
they  are  successful,  and  the  world  smiles  upon  them.  More- 
over, most  people  manage  to  live  abou’t  as  long  as  they  con- 
trive to  make  life  profitable,  by  living  truly  in  respect  to 
themselves,  and  with  a wise  reference  to  the  common  welfare. 

A state  of  mental  depression  acts  with  a destructive  power 
on  the  body.  Restless  and  unhappy  people  are  almost  always 
lean  and  sickly.  The  animal  fluids  are  dissipated  by  the 
inward  fires  ; the  nerves  become  morbidly  impressible  and 
the  mucous  surfaces  are  rendered  dry  and  feverish  ; the 
acidity  of  the  stomach  is  increased  by  the  asperities  of  the 
disposition  ; the  outlines  of  feature  and  form  leave  Hogarth’s 
line  of  beauty  to  be  supplied  by  the  imagination  ; while  the 
muscles  of  the  face  are  underscored  by  care,  and  all  life  is 
gravely  accented.  But  the  man  of  aspiring  hopes,  who  per- 
petually looks  on  the  sunny  side  of  life,  will  seldom  sulfer 
from  disease.  ' Agreeable  emotions  stimulate  the  functions  of 
the  nutritive  system,  at  the  same  time  the  power  of  assim- 
ilation is  sure  to  be  greatly  diminished  by  the  dominion  of 
such  passions  as  exert  a depressing  influence  on  tlie  mind. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  digestive  function  is  usually 
strong  in  those  persons  who  have  large  mirthfulness,  and 
whose  acute  perception  and  lively  appreciation  of  the 
ludicrous  phases  and  aspects  of  human  character  and  life, 
incline  them  to  “ the  laughing  philosophy.”  Indeed,  that 
fleshy  people  are  uniformly  good-natured,  is  a suggestive  text 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 


99 


from  our  proverbial  philosophy.  It  is  not,  however,  their 
flesli  that  determines  their  dispositions  ; but,  on  the  contrary^ 
the  state  of  mind  and  feeling  that  induces  flesh. 

Whatever  strengthens  our  confidence  in  mankind,  and 
inspires  our  hopes  of  future  happiness,  must  energize  the 
powers  of  life.  The  faculties  of  the  mind  require  proper 
stimulants,  and  when  these  are  employed  with  a wise  dis- 
crimination, they  exert  an  invigorating  influence  on  the 
organs  of  the  body.  Our  powers  all  decline  when  there  are 
no  strong  incentives  to  action.  It  is  hardly  possible  for  one 
to  live  long  who  has  no  purpose  in  life.  The  man  who  has 
realized  all  that  Fame  and  Fortune  promised,  and  with 
laureled  brow  sits  down  to  enjoy  his  possessions,  experiences 
a sudden  and  powerful  reaction  of  all  the  forces  of  his 
nature.  From  that  reaction — consequent  upon  the  existiuj 
state  of  the  mind — few  entirely  recover,  while  thousands 
pass  away.  They  remain  so  long  as  they  have  an  object  to 
live  for,  and  only  expire  when  life  becomes  vain  and  pur- 
poseless. 

Life  and  death  furnish  many  impressive  illustrations  of  my 
idea.  While  visiting  in  a large  New  England  town,  not 
long  since,  a gentleman  who  resides  there  called  my 
attention  to  several  costly  mansions,  whose  wealthy  owners, 
having  retired  from  active  business,  died  soon  after  they 
were  fairly  settled  in  their  new  and  splendid  abodes. 
Having  accomplished  their  own  great  object  in  life — maldng 
'princely  fortunes  for  themselves — the  chords  of  being  were 
suddenly  relaxed,  sinking  far  below  the  standard  of  a natural 
tension  and  a healthful  activity.  True,  there  were  thousands 
of  homeless  wanderers  all  around  them  in  the  world,  and 


100 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


^millions  more  whose  lives  have  been  a desperate  struggle 
with  “ outrageous  fortune  f but  all  such  were  left  to  termi- 
I nate  the  fierce  conflict  with  life  itself.  When  no  selfish 
object  remained  to  invite  the  exercise  of  their  powers,  and 
■ the  narrow  aims  and  interests  of  a false  pride  and  a heartless 
ambition  were  all  fully  realized,  the  dwellers  in  princely 
mansions  had,  perhaps,  no  object  for  which  to  live  and  act. 
Accordingly,  they  sought  rest,  and  found  a lasting  but 
ignoble  respose.  Thus  life,  to  the  selfish  man,  is  but  a poor 
^ and  profitless  investment,  even  when 

“ they  whose  hearts  are  dry  as  summer  dust, 

Burn  to  the  socket.” 

Among  the  agents  comprehended  in  our  eclecticism.  Faith 
Is  doubtless  far  more  potent  than  Physic.  In  fact,  the 
articles  embraced  in  the  materia  meclica  often  derive  all 
their  remedial  powers  from  the  patient’s  preconceived  idea  of 
their  curative  properties.  When  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  any 
agent,  however  powerless  in  itself,  is  sufficiently  strong,  the 
anticipated  physical  results  are  quite  sure  to  follow  its  admin- 
istration, The  protecting  and  renovating  powers  of  Amulets 
and  the  fancied  occult  influence  of  charms,  (so  much  in  use 
in  past  ages,)  employed  by  ignorant  people  to  shield  their 
bodies  from  disease,  and  their  souls  from  the  assaults  of 
Satanic  agents,  are  doubtless  to  be  ascribed  to  tliis  action  of 
the  mind  within  itself  and  on  the  body.  No  matter  what  the 
material  instrumentalities  may  be,  in  any  given  case,  since 
the  results  are  not  so  directly  and  essentially  dependent  on 
these  as  on  the  mind’s  action.  Papal  prayers  and  Pagan 
incantations  will  serve  equally  well ' at  the  exorcism  of 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 


101 


imaginary  demons  ; at  the  same  time,  a string  of  berries 
from  the  mountain-ash,  the  dry  bones  of  a departed  saint,  or 
any  one  of  the  ingredients  of  the  witches’  caldron,  will  cure 
a devout,  ignorant  man  whose  disease  had  its  origin  in  the 
mind. 

The  most  accomplished  practitioners  are  ordinarily  those 
who  use  the  least  medicine,  and  depend  most  on  giving  a new 
and  right  direction  to  the  patient’s  mind.  Those  who  disre- 
gard the  relations  of  the  mind  to  the  body,  and  are  ignorant 
of  the  psychical  laws,  can  never  be  eminently  successful. 
Where  nothing  is  done  to  inspire  the  patient  with  confidence, 
very  little  will  be  accomplished  by  our  efforts  to  remove  his 
disease  or  to  mitigate  his  sufferings.  The  specific  effects  of 
the  most  valuable  remedies  are  often  neutralized  by  the 
repulsive  manner  of  the  physician,  while  the  patient’s  doubts 
respecting  his  capacity  are  often  stronger  than  ordinary 
tonics  and  strengthening  plasters.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
the  patient’s  faith  is  established  and  unwavering,  .bread-pills, 
sugar-powders,  or  Dr.  Townsend’s  sweetened- water,  will 
readily  accomplish  amazing  psycho-physiological  effects  It 
may  be  necessary  to  disguise  the  real  condition  of  a sick  man, 
in  order  to  save  him  from  the  fatal  consequences  which  an 
actual  knowledge  of  his  case  would  be  likely  to  produce. 
For  similar  reasons,  and  from  the  best  motives,  the  discreet 
physician  may  resort  to  a seemingly  innocent  deception,  in 
order  to  realize  the  most  beneficent  results. 

The  writer  was  once  called  to  visit  a lady  who  had  suffered 
from  protracted  indisposition  and  a long  confinement.  She 
was  so  seriously  ill  that  her  case  had  baffled  the  skill  of 
eminent  physicians.  Her  physical  infirmities,  originating 


102 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


mainly  in  disordered  mental  states,  reacted  with  most  de- 
pressing and  melancholy  effects  on  her  sensitive  mind.  She 
was  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  her  case  was 
hopeless.  The  number  of  her  chronic  difficulties  was  only 
limited  by  her  knowledge  of  the  infirmities  of  poor  human 
nature.  She  readily  concluded  that  only  those  understood 
her  case  whose  diagnostic  readings  confirmed  her  own 
preconceived  opinions.  The  writer,  of  course,  indulged  her 
whimsicalities,  (that  is  an  essential  part  of  the  treatment,) 
but  with  an  air  of  unusual  gravity  assured  her  that  the  case 
was,  nevertheless,  one  that  could  be  most  successfully  treated. 
At  first  she  was  incredulous,  but  at  length  confidence  was 
fully  established.  Taking  from  my  vest  pocket  a box  of 
“^Hooper’s  Cachous  Aromatises,’^  I removed  the  label  without 
attracting  her  attention.  Having  described  in  a most  par- 
ticular and  emphatic  manner  the  specific  action  of  my  elec- 
trical pills,  (the  description  comprehended  the  precise  physio- 
logical changes  necessary  to  a healthy  action,)  I handed  her 
the  box  with  minute  directions,  and  the  positive  assurance 
that  the  contents  of  a single  box  would  suffice  to  restore  licr 
to  perfect  health.  The  lady  pursued  the  treatment  with 
the  strictest  fidelity,  and  was  completely  restored!  Since 
her  recovery  she  has  repeatedly  importuned  the  writer  for 
several  boxes  of  those  electrical  pills,  which  she  desires  to 
present  to  friends  whose  cases  are  similar  to  her  own. 

It  is  said  that  Pliny  recommended  the  warm  blood  of  an 
expiring  gladiator  as  a remedy  for  epilepsy  ; and  not  more 
than  two  hundred  years  ago  the  lichens  whicli  grew  from 
human  skulls  were  the  best  remedy  for  tliat  disease  known 
to  the  medical  faculty  of  England.  Alfred  Since,  in  a note 


RENOVATINCx  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 


J03 


to  liis  “ Instinct  and  Reason/’  (page  270,)  mentions  a cure 
which  resulted  from  the  directions  given  by  the  doctor  to 
the  nurse,  Avho  was  instructed  to  apply,  if  necessary,  a red-hot 
poker  to  the  patient’s  hack.  A.  physician  with  whom  the 
writer  is  on  familiar  terms,  affirms  that  he  produced  a pow 
erful  cathartic  action  by  the  use  of  flour,  moistened  with 
saliva,  and  made  into  pills.  Some  days  since  I heard  of  the| 
case  of  a German,  who  being  seriously  indisposed,  applied  to 
one  of  our  American  physicians  for  professional  aid.  The 
doctor  wrote  a prescription,  and  handing  the  paper  to  the ; 
patient,  said,  “ There,  take  that,”  presuming  that  he  would  go 
at  once  to  the  apothecary  for  the  medicine.  Meeting  his 
patient  some  few  days  after,  he  inquired  after  the  state  of 
his  health,  whereupon  the  German  replied  that  he  Avas  quite 
well,  but  that  he  found  some  difficulty  in  getting  the  doctor’s 
prescription  down,  as  he  was  not  used  to  taking  paper  ! ^ 

When  this  vigorous  and  renovating  action  of  the  mind 
can  be  otherwise  induced  and  directed,  the  same  results  may 
be  produced  without  the  use  of  ordinary  remedial  agents,  or 
other  material  means.  Some  years  since,  Avhile  the  writer 
was  employed  in  delivering  a series  of  lectures  on  mental 
and  spiritual  science — in  Springfield,  Mass. — the  statement 
was  made,  that  whenever  the  mind’s  action  can  be  controlled 


^ The  following  fact  is  related  by  Dr.  George  Moore  : — 

During  the  seige  of  Breda,  in  1625,  the  garrison  was  on  the  point  of  surren- 
dering from  the  ravages  of  scurvy,  principally  induced  by  mental  depression. 
A few  vials  of  sham  medicine  were  introduced,  by  order  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange  as  an  infallible  specific.  It  was  given  in  drops  and  produced  aston- 
ishing effects.  Such  as  had  not  moved  their  limbs  for  months  before,  were 
seen  walking  in  the  streets — sound,  straight  and  well. — The  Soul  and  the  Body, 
p.  225. 


lOtt  . MAN  AND  HIS  RELAIIONS. 

agreebly  to  psychological  laws,  the  specific  action  of  any 
medicine  may  be  ‘produced  by  the  direction  given  by  the 
mind  to  the  electro-vital  forces.  This  was  boldly  disputed 
by  the  Medical  Faculty  ; and  the  experiment  of  administering 
a psychological  emetic  was  accordingly  made  in  the  presence 
of  a large  public  assembly — on  a liealthy  Irishman — which 
in  less  than  three  minutes  resulted  in  his  discharging  the 
contents  of  his  stomach. 

The  great  Physician  of  the  Jews  recognized  this  action  of 
the  mind  as  possessing  a great  renovating  power  over  the 
body.  Two  blind  men  came  to  him  on  a certain  occasion  to 
have  their  sight  restored.  Jesus  said  to  them,  “ According 
to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you  ; and  their  eyes  were  opened.’^ 
To  the  woman  who  “ touched  the  hem  of  his  garment,”  he 
said,  “ Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  wholeT — [Matthew,  ninth 
chapter.]  These  and  other  similar  forms  of  expression  clearly 
indicate  that  the  cures  wrought  by  the  Divinely-gifted  Man 
of  Nazareth  were  not  arbitrary  exhibitions  of  an  independent 
power,  but  that  they  were  in  consonance  with  the  psycho- 
dynamic laws.  Cures  are  now  daily  accoiuplished  when  tlio 
material  agents  employed  have  no  specific  action  on  the 
system,  and  also  when  no  such  means  are  resorted  to  by  the 
patient  or  the  practitioner.  In  either  case  the  cure  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  action  of  the  mind.  So  important  is  tliis 
concentration  and  application  of  mental  forces  to  the  diseased 
body — so  essential  is  faith  on  the  part  of  the  patient,  that 
without  it  the  chances  of  recovery,  in  any  serious  case,  are 
few  and  small.  Few  persons  afllicted  with  clironic  diseases 
are  ever  cured  witliout  strong  confidence  in  the  pliysician  or 
Ids  remedies.  On  the  other  hand,  wiicn  all  the  energies  of 


RENOVATING  POWERS  OF  THE  HUMAN  MIND.  J Oo 

the  soul  are  summoned  to  the  work  of  deliverance,  disease  is 
straightway  forced  to  resign  its  usurped  dominion.  ^ 

The  idea  that  diseases  may  be  removed  and  the  body 
restored  by  the  agency  of  the  mind  alone,  involves — in  the  ^ 
judgment  of  many  people — a great  tax  on  human  credulity.  , 
They  have  no  hesitation  in  believing  that  a small  blue  pill,  a , 
little  tincture  of  lobelia,  or  an  infinitesimal  dose  of  the  fortieth 
dilution  of  some  impotent  drug  will  accomplisli  the  work  of 
organic  and  functional  renovation,  whilst  Mind,  with  all  its  • 
immortal  powers  and  Godlike  capabilities,  is  regarded  as  an  i 
inadequate  cause  of  similar  effects.  This  is  the  woi’st 
conceivable  form  of  Materialism.  /It  invests  the  smallest 
quantity  of  inorganic  matter  with  a power  greater  than  the 
soul  is  admitted  to  possess|  It  utterly  denies  the  supremacy  i 
of  Mind  over  the  realm  of  material  forces,  forms  and  elements  ; ) 
while  it  virtually  disputes  the  healing  power  of  the  great  , 
Physician,  because  he  did  not  give  physic  to  the  Jews,  but 
removed  their  maladies  by  the  mightier  energies  of  Mind. 

The  remarkable  cures  wrought — in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century — at 
the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris,  appear  to  have  depended  far  more  on  the  faith  of 
the  devotees  themselves,  than  on  the  miraculous  energy  ascribed  to  the  d y 
bones  of  the  departed  Saint. . 


CHAPTER  X. 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE. 

The  Inward  Forces — False  views  of  the  nature  of  Disease — Conditions  of  the 
Earth  and  atmosphere — Man’s  positive  relation  in  the  outward  World — How 
the  Citadel  may  be  defended — Experiments  of  Dutrochet— Structure  of  the 
membranes  of  animal  and  human  Bodies — Relations  of  Mind  to  the  powers 
of  physical  resistance— The  Sisters  of  Charity — Strong  mental  excitements 
may  fortify  the  Body— Power  to  resist  Heat  and  Cold — Reference  to 
Dr.  Kane,  the  Arctic  Explorer — Col.  Fremont’s  Expeditions — Painful  Ex- 
periences among  the  passes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada — The  Colonel’s  Inspira- 
tion— Conquests  of  the  Positive  Man. 

‘ ‘ All  declare 

For  what  the  Eternal  Maker  has  ordained 
The  powers  of  Man  ; we  feel  within  ourselves 
His  energy  divine.” 


IN  the  external  economy  of  Human  Nature — in  its  best 
estate — we  are  presented  with  a most  majestic  and  beauti- 
ful earthly  form  ; with  vital  forces  and  organic  instruments 
the  most  subtile  and  complicated,  and  with  functions  of  being 
the  most  delicate,  mysterious  and  wonderful.  Nevertlieless, 
we  should  be  wanting  in  the  most  significant  and  convincing 
illustration  of  the  Divine  wisdom  and  benevolence,  if  Man, 
with  his  exquisite  susceptibility  and  transcendent  powers, 
were  surrounded  by  destructive  agents,  whose  iireseiice  he 
was  unfitted  to  perceive,  and  against  whose  secret  assaults  he 
could  oppose  no  adequate  resistance.  Ihit  wo  are  not  thus 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OP  RESISTANCE.  10," 

defenseless.  On  the  contrary,  tliere  exists  no  outward  cause 
of  vital  derangement  for  which  Nature  has  not  provided  a 
sufficient  inward  protection.  Man  has  only  to  comprehend 
his  nature  and  relations,  and  to  wisely  apply  the  forces  at  his 
command,  to  insure  his  personal  safety.  When  his  latent 
powers  are  fairly  called  into  the  outward  arena,  being 
normally  exercised  and  rightly  directed,  he  will  be  strong  in 
the  integrity  of  his  nature,  and  may  walk  forth-  amidst  a 
thousand  dangers,  with  none  to  make  him  afraid. 

Many  persons  seem  to  entertain  the  idea  that  diseases 
have  an  independent  existence^  and  that  they  are  individual- 
ized in  the  atmosphere.  Those  unphilosophical  observers, 
in  whose  uncultivated  minds  idle  fancies,  and  the  most  im- 
probable conjectures,  assume  the  dignity  and  authority  of  an 
enlightened  judgment  and  scientific  conclusions,  may  readily 
imagine  that  the  vital  air  is  but  the  broad  highway  through 
which  invisible  forms  of  Evil — the  ministers  of  infection  and 
disease — go  dov/n  to  the  carnival  of  Death;  and  that  an  in- 
dignant Providence  unchains  the  viewless  winds,  arms  them 
with  numberless  poison  shafts,  and  sends  them  forth  to  smite 
and  to  destroy.  Such  notions  evince  as  little  reason  as  rev- 
erence. The  truth  is.  disease  is  only  a deranged  state  of 
the  vital  forces  and  functions,  or  a temporary  condition  of 
an  organic  form  induced  by  an  infringement  of  some  exist- 
ing law.  As  disease  has  no  separate  existence  outside  of 
organic  forms  and  relations,  but  is  wholly  dependent  on 
the  violation  of  vital,  physiological  or  other  laws  for  its  de- 
velopment, it  follows,  that  to  escape  disease,  we  have  but  to 
live  and  act  with  a wise  reference  to  the  laws  of  our  com- 

8 


M)S 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


mon  nature.  Neglect  those  laws,  and  earth  has  no  asylum 
where  the  enemy  will  not  find  and  punish  the  offender. 

But  are  there  no  conditions  of  the  earth,  and  especially  of 
the  atmosphere,  that  may  diminish  the  vital  forces  of  the 
human  body,  or  otherwise  derange  the  organic  action  ? 
Obviously  such  conditions  are  liable  to  occur,  at  all  seasons 
and  in  every  part  of  the  world.  But  when  the  body  is  in  a 
perfectly  normal  state,  it  so  readily  accommodates  itself  to 
the  electrical  and  atmospheric  changes,  that  it  suffers  no 
injury  from  their  occurrence.  Occasionally  a person  lives 
eighty  or  one  hundred  years,  in  the  enjoyment  of  complete 
and  uninterrupted  health.  Such  men  must  inevitably  have 
been  exposed,  more  or  less,  to  the  influence  of  the  elements, 
and  to  all  the  ordinary  vicissitudes  of  life  ; and  yet  they  are 
strangers  to  the  physical  infirmities  of  mankind.  The  ex- 
amples of  this  class  may  not  be  very  numerous,  but  they 
indicate  with  sufficient  clearness  the  inherent  capacities  of 
Man.  The  powers  necessary  to  vital  harmony  and  a pro- 
( tracted  existence — still  latent  in  the  great  body  of  Humanity 
^ — are  here  and  there  obscurely  revealed  in  individuals,  as 
prophecies  of  still  nobler  achievements  for  the  Race,  as  we 
go  forward  to  realize  the  great  destiny  and  the  sublime  pos- 
sibilities of  human  nature  on  earth  and  in  the  heavens. 

The  capacity  to  resist  the  outward  causes  of  disease  mainly 
depends  on  the  positive  nature  and  relation  of  man^  as  compared, 
with  the  unorganized  elements,  and  the  surrounding  forms  of 
the  organic  creation.  The  human  body  is  perpetually  gen- 
erating and  disengaging  the  vital  electi'ic  element  tliat  con- 
stitutes the  circulating  medium  of  the  nervous  system,  and 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE.  109 

the  vital  motive  power.  The  several  processes  of  respiration, 
digestion,  circulation,  secretion,  and  the  powers  of  molecular 
attraction,  chemical  affinity  and  muscular  motion,  are  all 
employed  in  the  evolution  of  the  subtile  principle,  which  is 
constantly  passing  off  from  the  healthy  body  in  inappre- 
ciable currents  to  pervade  the  material  elements  and  ob- 
jective forms  of  the  external  world.  As  these  processes 
are  uninterrupted  in  the  healthy  body,  the  gradual  waste  is 
constantly  supplied  ; and  so  long  as  the  inward  forces  and 
guL+iie  elements  continue  to  flow  out  from  the  vital  centers 
to  the  circumference  of  our  being,  v/e  can  not  be  injured  by 
the  outward  agents  that  induce  disease.  This  determination 
of  the  electric  forces  from  the  center  to  the  surface,  not  only 
carries  the  effete  matter  out  of  the  body — thus  cleansing  the 
channels  and  purifying  the  elements  of  the  circulation — but 
so  long  as  this  flow  of  the  vital  tide  is  not  interrupted,  the 
agents  that  disturb  the  electrical  equilibrium,  and  the  organic 
movement,  are  driven  away,  and  the  normal  condition  of  the 
“body  is  preserved.  It  is  only  when  the  vital  forces  are  dimin- 
ished at  the  seat  of  life,  or  when  the  electric  currents  set 
back  from  the  external  to  the  internal  surfaces,  that  the 
avenues  leading  to  the  citadel  are  left  open  and  defenseless. 

This  point  will  admit  of  a clearer  elucidation.  When  two 
bodies  in  opposite  electrical  conditions,  or  sustaining  positive 
and  negative  relations,  are  brought  together,  there  is  an 
instantaneous  effort  on  the  part  of  Nature  to  establish  an 
equilibrium  between  them.  The  subtile  fluid  emanates  from 
the  positive  body  and  goes  out  to  pervade  the  other.  If  the 
bodies  be  composed  of  homogeneous  elements,  in  similar  pro- 
portions, and  hence  have  equal  capacity  as  conductors,  they 


no 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


will  be  reduced  to  the  same  electrical  condition.  If  we  charge 
a leyden  jar,  and  a negative  body  that  will  serve  as  a con- 
ductor be  placed  in  suitable  relations  to  the  same,  the  accumu- 

0 

lated  electricity  will  be  discharged  from  the  jar  to  the  body 
thus  presented.  Now,  in  a less  sensible,  though  not  less 
certain  manner,  the  same  phenomenon  is  constantly  recurring 
from  the  contact  of  the  human  body  with  external  objects. 
But  the  discharges  occur  on  the  inductive  principle,  and  are 
not,  therefore,  perceptible,  as  in  the  disruptive  discharge  from 
the  jar,  or  from  the  clouds,  when  summer  showers  are  accom- 
panied by  electrical  phenomena. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  human  body,  while  in  a 
healthy  state,  is  positive  to  the  inorganic  substances,'  and,  I 
may  add,  to  the  forms  of  organized  existence  below  man.  I 
need  not  pause  here  to  discuss  the  nature  of  the  outward 
agents  and  specific  conditions  which  induce  disease  in  any 
given  case  ; but  it  may  be  clearly  shown,  that  while  the 
system  preserves  its  natural  or  positive  relation  to  the  exter- 
nal elements,  it  can  not  be  materially  injured  by  their  action. 
So  long,  for  example,  as  the  body  continues  to  sustain  this 
relation  to  the  atmospheric  changes,  we  can  not  take  cold, 
nor  are  we  liable  to  suffer  from  exposure  to  contagion.  Tlie 
invisible  arrows  of  the  destroyer  fall  without  the  walls  of 
the  fortress  in  which  the  forces  of  life  are  entrenched.  The 
enemy  is  kept  at  bay  by  virtue  of  the  resistance  which  his 
positive  relation  enables  man  to  exercise.  While  the  normal 
condition  is  preserved,  he  is  perpetually  sending  out  electrical 
emanations,  which  pervade  the  surrounding  atmosphere  and 
the  objects  with  which  he  is  most  intimately  connected.  On 
the  contrary,  when  the  relation  is  clianged — when  the  body 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE.  Ill 

becomes  negative  in  the  sphere  of  its  outward  relations — 
the  corporeal  organs  and  their  functions  may  be  impaired 
and  deranged  by  the  general  state  of  the  elements,  or  by  the 
specific  properties  of  surrounding  forms  and  substances. 

Agreeably  to  this  positive  relation  of  living  bodies,  we 
find  that  tlie  skin  and  other  membranes  are  adapted  to  the 
exhalation  rather  than  the  inhalation  or  absorption  of  par- 
ticles. It  was  Dutrochet  who  demonstrated,  by  his  experi- 
ments in  Endosmose  and  Exosmose,  the  great  exhaling  ca- 
pacity of  the  membranes  of  animal  bodies.  At  the  same 
time  his  scientific  investigations  render  it  equally  evident 
that  the  outward  elements  do  not  readily  enter  the  body 
through  the  cutaneous  envelop.  While  substances  in  a liquid 
state  would  easily  pass  out — from  the  inner  to  the  outer 
surface — through  the  pores  of  the  skin,  no  similar  hydraulic 
pressure  would  suffice  to  force  them  through  the  perspiratory 
ducts  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  result  of  the  experi- 
ment suggests  the  cause  of  this  difference.  When  the  force 
is  applied  from  within,  the  valves  of  the  epidermis  are  natu- 
rally thrown  open  ; but  when  the  pressure  is  on  the  external 
surface,  the  oblique  valvular  openings — numbering  some 
2500  or  3000  to  every  square  inch  of  the  surface  of  the  body 
— are  closed  as  a means  of  protection.  I am  aware  that  some 
authors  have  maintained  that  certain  substances  in  solution 
can  be  introduced  into  the  system  through  the  cuticle  ; and 
it  is  even  asserted  that  life  has  been  preserved  for  some  time 
by  the  absorption  of  nutrition.  But  these  statements  must 
be  regarded  as  extremely  improbable  in  the  light  of  Du- 
trochet’s  experiments  ; at  the  same  time  other  scientific  ob- 
servations contribute  to  establish  the  fact,  that  the  absorbing 


112 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS- 


power  of  the  membranes  bears  no  proportion  to  their  exhaling 
capacity. 

On  this  peculiarity  in  the  membraneous  structure  and  func- 
tions of  the  skin,  the  natural  power  of  the  living  body  to 
resist  the  outward  causes  of  disease  must  in  a great  measure 
depend  ; for  not  only  is  it  thus  qualified  to  expel — in  a sum- 
mary manner — the  impurities  that  would  otherwise  remain 
and  generate  disease,  but  it  is  likewise  enabled  -to  resist  the 
influx  of  foreign  elements  that  might  impair  the  organic  func- 
tions and  render  life  insecure.  Thus  the  body  is  fitted  by 
Nature  to  expel  disease,  rather  than  to  imbibe  the  elements 
that  generate  the  evil.  So  long,  therefore,  as  the  normal 
condition  is  faithfully  preserved,  and  man  sustains  proper 
relations  to  the  elements  and  forms  of  the  physical  v/orld, 
he  is  invulnerable  to  cold,  to  miasma,  and  to  all  the  subtile 
agents  of  infection. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  are  certain  mental  states  that 
greatly  increase  and  others  tliat  materially  diminish  our  sus- 
ceptibility to  sensorial  impressions,  and  to  the  influence  of 
such  agents  as  are  liable  to  disturb  the  organic  harmony, 
The  activity  of  the  mind  is  not  merely  an  indispensable  con- 
dition of  its  own  growth,  but  it  is  necessary  to  pliysical  health, 
inasmuch  as  the  body  is  liable  to  become  negative  when  the 
mind  is  wholly  inactive.  A proper  mental  excitement  imparts 
an  additional  stimulus  to  the  organic  functions.  In  the  hours 
of  rest  we  are  entirely  passive  or  negative,  hence  the  in- 
creased liability  during  sleep,  to  take  cold  or  imbibe  disease 
from  contagion.  Whatever  renders  the  body  negative,  in 
the  sense  here  implied,  exposes  it  to  injury  from  outward 
causes.  But  as  the  mind  is  capable  of  sending  the  electrical 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE.  1 1 

forces  to  every  part  of  the  system,  it  follows  that  the  walls 
which  surroimd  the  powers  of  life  may  be  strongly  fortified. 
When  the  whole  surface  is  electrically  charged  there  is  no 
opportunity  for  the  admission — from  external  sources — of  the 
elements  Avhich  produce  disease.  They  are  driven  off,  and 
the  body  is  protected  by  the  spontaneous  fioAV  of  the  electric 
forces  from  the  center  toward  the  circumference  of  our 
physical  being. 

The  phenomenal  illustrations  of  this  part  of  my  subject 
are  as  significant  and  forcible  as  they  are  numerous  and 
diversified.  The  timid  watcher  who  goes  reluctantly  to  the 
bedside  of  a sick  friend — filled  with  the  apprehension  of  a 
mortal  danger — will  so  withdraw  the  electro-nervous  forces 
by  the  recoiling  action  of  his  mind,  that  every  avenue  lead- 
ing to  the  seat  of  vital  poAver  will  be  left  open,  and  he  will 
almost  ineAdtably  fall  a victim.  On  the  contrary,  the  phy- 
sician, Avho  Avith  firm  purpose  and  unshaken  nerves,  walks 
through  the  Avards  of  the  hospital,  is  seldom  injured  by 
the  foul  atmosphere  of  disease  and  death.  The  Sisters  of 
Charity,  Avhose  devotion  to  the  interests  of  Humanity  and 
the  claims  of  their  Religion  prompt  them  to  brave  the  secret 
agents  of  destruction,  are  very  rarely  sacrificed  to  the  South- 
ern pestilence.  Let  a negative  man  sit  still  for  two  hours 
on  a cold  stone,  Avhere  the  autumn  winds  chill  the  blood  as 
they  hymn  their  requiem  to  the  dying  year,  and  he  may  lose 
his  own  life  in  consequence ; at  the  same  time,  a li\e  member 
of  the  Democratic  party — if  under  the  influence  of  strong 
political  excitement — may  stand  at  the  corner  of  the  street 
and  quarrel  with  a Republican  all  night,  Avithout  sufifering 
from  exposure  to  the  Rosts  and  storms  of  Avinter.  A delicate 


114 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  susceptible  lady  wlio  would  take  cold  from  a moment^s 
contact  with  the  damp  ground,  or  from  a slight  exposure  to 
the  evening  air,  Avhen  the  mind  is  in  a state  of  repose,  may 
escape  unharmed  when  she  is  under  the  influence  of  intense 
mental  excitement.  Let  her  be  told  for  example  that  her 
child  has  fallen  into  the  river,  and  the  agitation  of  mind 
occasioned  by  the  startling  intelligence  will  enable  her  to 
expose  her  person  to  the  fiercest  action  of  the  elements  with 
impunity.  The  strong  impulse  of  the  soul  sends  the  forces 
to  the  extremities,  and  so  diffuses  the  electric  aura  over  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body  as  to  furnish  a complete  protection. 

The  normal  temperature  of  the  body,  among  the  human 
species,  varies  in  different  races  and  individuals  from'  96  to 
100^  Fahr.,  and  is  but  slightly  modified  by  the  circumstances 
of  geographical  position  and  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Seasons. 
In  Summer  and  Winter — in  the  frigid  and  the  torrid  zones, 
it  remains  the  same.  From  this  fact  we  may  infer  that  the 
vital  power  to  resist  the  variations  of  temperature  is  almost 
unlimited  ; and  this  is  one  of  the  most  essential  laws  in  the 
economy  of  all  Animated  Nature.  This  inherent  capacity 
to  endure  sudden  changes  and  the  greatest  extremes  of 
heat  and  cold,  is  often  essential  to  the  preservation  of  healtli 
and  life.  In  certain  persons  this  power  has  been  exer- 
cised and  developed  in  a surprising  degree.  Blagden  was 
able  to  endure  the  atmosphere  of  an  oven  in  which  water 
boiled  while  the  surface  was  covered  with  oil,  and  when  the 
mercury  stood  257°  Fahr.  We  have  also  an  account  of  two 
girls  in  France  whose  experiments  demonstrated  their  ca- 
pacity to  resist  a still  higlier  temperature.  Francisco  Mar- 
tinez, a Spaniard,  wlio  made  an  exhibition  of  his  powers  at 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OF  RESISTANCE.  Ho  , 

Paris — some  thirty  years  ago — did  not  liesitate  to  go  into  a 
large  stove  heated  to  279°. 

Moreover,  it  appears  from  the  testimony  of  a number  of 
reliable  witnesses,  that  the  Convulsionaries  at  the  grave  of 
Saint  Medard,  in  France,  were  no  less  distinguished  for  their 
ability  to  resist  extreme  heat.  La  Sonet,  sur named  the 
Salamander,  in  the  course  of  two  hours  subjected  her  body 
to  the  action  of  fire  for  more  than  half  an  hour  ; and  during 
the  time  she  was  so  exposed  fifteen  sticks  of  wood  were 
consumed  ; the  flames  at  times  uniting  above  the  woman  ^ 
and  thus  encircling  the  whole  body.  La  Sonet  manifested 
no  signs  of  pain,  but  appeared  to  be  sleeping.  A certificate 
— attesting  the  actual  occurrence  of  the  facts  in  this  case — 
was  signed  by  several  enlightened  witnesses  including  a 
brother  of  Voltaire  and  a Protestant  nobleman  from  Perth.’ 

In  the  year  1832  the  writer  witnessed  some  masterly 
illustrations  of  this  power  by  a Frenchman,  who  was  known 
as  the  ’‘Fire  King.^’  Monsieur  could  enter  a heated  oven 
and  I email!  long  enough  to  boil  eggs  or  cook  a steak,  without 
any  apparent  inconvenience  to  himself.  In  his  public  exhi- 
bitions he  was  accustomed  to  take  his  place  on  an  elevated 
platform,  over  which  an  iron  frame  was  erected,  and  Avhere  he 
was  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  light  combustible  materials, 
including  several  hundred  blank  cartridges.  When  his  ar- 
rangements were  completed  he  applied  a lighted  match  to  a 
fuse,  and  in  a moment  he  would  be  so  completely  enveloped 
in  flames  as  to  be  almost  or  altogether  concealed  from  the 
spectators.  His  outside  garments  were  always  consumed, 
but  the  devouring  elements  left  no  signs  of  its  power  on  the 


‘ See  Blake’s  Encyc., — Art.,  Aidnial  Heat. 


16 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


person  of  the  Fire  King.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  more 
extraordinary  illustrations  of  this  amazing  power  of  resist- 
ance, if  we  except  the  alleged  miraculous  experience  of  the 
tliree  Hebrews,  who  were  unharmed  by  the  fiery  ordeal  ol 
Nebuchadnezzar’s  furnace. 

The  power  to  resist  Frost  chiefly  depends  on  the  condition 
and  action  of  the  mind.  The  chemical  elements  in  all  human 
bodies  are  essentially  the  same,  and,  when  mental  and  vital 
motion  are  suspended,  they  will  freeze  at  about  the  same 
temperature.  Nevertheless,  among  living  men  one  may  be 
invulnerable — with  respect  to  cold — while  others  are  doomed 
to  perish.  It  would  not  be  safe  to  baptize  a faithless  man 
— having  small  vital  powers — in  the  winter  ; but  the  young 
convert — all  glowing  with  the  enthusiasm  of  his  first  love — 
with  the  fire  of  a deep  and  earnest  devotion  burning  in  his 
heart  and  warming  his  whole  being,  may  experience  no 
injury  from  immersion  in  the  icy  flood.  We  have  a striking 
illustration  of  this  point  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Kane,  whose 
explorations  have  contributed  so  much  to  science  and  to 
secure  for  himself  an  honorable  and  lasting  fame.  If  he  was 
not  endowed  by  Nature  with  robust  health  and  great  powers 
of  physical  endurance,  he  doubtless  possessed  gifts  wliicli 
invest  the  individual  mind  and  character  with  something 
more  than  kingly  power — he  possessed  an  eiiliglitencd  mind, 
a strong  will,  and  withal  a magnanimity  of  soul  that  rose 
with  tlie  dignity  of  his  purpose,  and  was  equal  to  the  neces- 
sities of  the  most  trying  emergency.  Tlirough  the  long 
Arctic  night  he  braved  the  tempests  that  vailed  die  boreal 
lieavens  and  swept  the  glacier  steeps  around  liim.  Otliors, 
less  resolute  and  noble,  were  emtombed  in  icy  sepulchers ; 
but  the  eternal  frosts  of  tlie  ])olai*  regions  could  not  cliill  (lie 


MENTAL  AND  VITAL  POWERS  OP  RESISTANCE.  IIT 


blood  that  was  quickened  by  a passion  for  adventure,  warmed 
by  an  enthusiastic  love  of  knowledge,  and  impelled  by  the 
strong  incentives  of  a lofty  and  worthy  ambition. 

I find  other  illustrative  examples — not  less  instructive  and 
convincing — in  the  history  of  Col.  Fremont’s  expeditions. 
When  his  less  ambitious  companions  froze  their  limbs  and 
their  faces,  gave  up  in  despair  and  perished  from  cold,  hunger 
and  fatigue  ; when  others — rendered  insane  by  long  suffer- 
ing— wandered  away  from  the  party  and  were  lost  ; and 
even  the  hardy  mules — huddling  together — one  after  another 
froze,  tumbled  down,  and  were  buried  in  the  deep  snows 
among  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Del  Norte,  the  brave  leader 
of  the  party  wms  unharmed  by  the  frost.  ’ Whether  encamped 
among  the  snowy  peaks  and  dangerous  passes  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  or  exposed  to  the  remorseless  fury  of  the  wintry 
storms — as  they  swept  over  the  lofty  summits  and  through 
the  deep  defiles  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — Fremont  was 
always  resolute  and  always  safe ; and  through  all  the 
exhausting  labors,  intense  sufferings,  and  hair-breadth  es- 
capes, of  his  five  expeditions  across  the  continent,  he  seems 

^ On  one  occasion  when  Col.  Fremont  was  encamped  among  the  rugged 
mountain  passes,  12,000  feet  above  the  sea,  it  became  necessary  to  send  sev- 
eral of  his  men  to  the  Spanish  settlements  of  New  Mexico  to  obtain  provisions 
and  also  to  purchase  mules  to  aid  in  the  transportation  of  his  baggage. 
After  the  departure  of  his  men  he  became  anxious  for  their  safety,  and  with 
several  of  his  brave  companions  traveled  160  miles,  in  the  snow  and  on  foot. 
At  length,  on  the  evening  of  the  tenth  day — when  the  four  men  who  had  un- 
dertaken to  reach  the  Spanish  settlements  had  been  out  twenty-two  days — 
he  found  three  of  them  exhausted  and  ready  to  perish — King,  the  leader 
of  the  little  band,  having  already  expired  from  hunger  and  fatigue.  In  speak- 
ing of  this  incident,  Col.  Fremont  says  : Hook  vpon  the  anxiety  which  induced 
meio  set  out  from  the  camp  as  an  inspiration.  Had  I remained  there  waiting  the 
arrival  of  the  party  which  had  been  sent  in,  every  man  of  us  would  probably 
have  perished. — Upham's  Life  of  Fremont,^.  287. 


118 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


to  have  been  shielded  by  an  armor  more  impenetrable  than 
steel.  The  soul  is  mightier  far  than  strength  of  nerve  and 
muscle,  armed  with  all  the  implements  of  war  ; and  the  hero 
who  first  unfurled  the  banner  of  his  country  from  the  loftiest 
summits  of  the  Great  Sierra  and  the  Rocky  Mountain  ranges 
was  strong  in  spirit ; he  was  illuminated  by  a conscious 
inspiration  and  armed  with  the  all-conquering  forces  of  his 
own  unyielding  will. 

Thus  the  active,  the  resolute,  the  positive  man — the  man 
/ who  walk^  forth  with  a firm  step,  and  an  intrepid  spirit,  is 
invested  with  an  armor  more  invulnerable  than  the  heavy 
mail  of  the  days  of  chivalry.  The  dangers  which  have 
proved  fatal  to  others,  leave  him  unharmed.  If  he  meets  his 
enemies  in  the  way,  they  retreat  before  him.  The  miasmatic 
exhalations  which  sometimes  pervade  the  atmosphere  are 
powerless  to  invade  the  walled  citadel  of  his  being.  He 
walks  with  the  pestilence,  but  an  invisible  protecting  power 
is  around,  above,  and  beneath  him. 

Nothing,  therefore,  can  be  more  essential  to  health — more 
deeply  inwrought  with  all  that  renders  life  secure  and 
pleasurable — than  the  preservation  of  the  relation  which 
Nature  has  assigned  to  Man. ' To  this  end,  dear  reader, 
observe  the  laws  which  govern  the  human  organization.  Be 
free  in  thought ; be  firm  in  purpose  ; be  energetic  in  action. 
If  you  are  beset  with  dangers,  never — as  you  value  health 
and  life — relinquish  your  self-possession.  If  fortune  frowns 
be  calm  and  you  wdll  conquer.  The  man  of  great  pliysical 
and  moral  courage,  if  guided  by  wisdom,  is  well  nigh  immor- 
tal now.  The  negative  man — the  coward — dies  a tliousand 
dcatlis,  while  the  brave  man  dies  but  once. 


CHAPTER  XL 


EVILS  OF  EXCESSIVE  PEOCREATION. 


The  higher  Law — V hat  thiEgs  are  pure  and  heautiful — Writers  on  the  Philo- 
sophy of  Impregnation— Rapid  Propagation  among  the  lower  Classes — The 
Problem  and  the  Solution — Destruction  of  the  Unborn — Excessive  Procrea- 
tion at  war  with  Nature— The  evil  Consequences— Legal  and  Conventional 
Morality — The  Cannibalism  dt  Lust — Infidels  in  the  temple  ol  the  Affections 
— Indiflerence  to  mcmenlcus  Consequences — A solemn  Responsibility- 
Fearful  self-sacrifice — Disease  at  the  Baptism,  and  Crime  at  the  Communion, 

That  man  is  an  Atheist  who  does  not  recognize  he  exist- 
tence  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Divine  natural  law  in 
and  over  all.  The  essential  springs  of  our  common  life,  the 
natural  relations  of  the  sexes,  and  the  inevitable  and  lasting 
consequences  which  attach  to  every  purpose  and  succeed 
every  action,  admonish  us  that,  higher  than  the  constitutions 
and  court  circulars  of  States  and  Empires,  supreme  over  all 
legislative  enactments,  civil  tribunals,  and  imperial  decrees, 
are  the  laws  of  the  Creator,  as  enacted  and  recorded  in  the 
very  rudiments  of  our  common  nature.  The  laws  of  nations, 
and  the  civil  policies  of  human  governments,  are  wise — and 
they  conduce  to  the  progress  and  the  happiness  of  the  people 
— only  so  far  as  they  are  faithful  translations  of  the  statute- 
book  of  Nature  into  the  living  language  of  human  speech  and 
action.  Moreover,  in  the  precise  degree  that  our  legislators 


120 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


depart  from  the  Divine  requirements,  as  expressed  in  the 
fundamental  laws  of  Nature,  the  government  becomes  oppres- 
sive and  degrading  : at  the  same  time,  so  far  as  the  political 
institutions,  the  civil  policy  and  the  social  life  of  a people 
are  based  on  essential  principles,  and  in  unison  with  the 
inherent  laws  of  universal  hamony,  they  may  furnish  incen- 
tives to  individual  enterprise,  or  otherwise  promote  the  col- 
lective interests  of  the  race. 

The  will  of  Heaven,  in  respect  to  this  world,  is  conspic- 
uously revealed  in  the  economy  of  the  ivorld  itself.  Before 
that  august  tribunal  all  things  are  pure  and  beautiful — are 
intrinsically  true  and  good — in  proportion  as  they  conform 
to  the  essential  life,  the  organic  laws,  and  the  normal  re- 
lations of  our  being,  and  are  thus  adapted  to  actualize  the 
heavenly  harmonies  among  men.  Thus  alone  we  may  hope 
to  realize  the  appropriate  answer  to  the  prayer  : “ Thy  king- 
dom come,  thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  in  heaven.’’ 

I do  not  expect  to  unfold,  in  this  Chapter,  the  philosophy 
of  impregnation  ; nor  will  it  be  proper,  in  a popular  treatise 
on  a profound  subject,  to  even  attempt  a subtile  analysis  and 
comprehensive  exposition  of  the  conditions,  laws  and  pro- 
cesses involved  in  the  reproduction  of  the  species.  The  ob- 
scure beginnings  of  our  organic  formation  and  life  are  vailed 
in  mystery  ; and  no  one  should  undertake  to  enlighten  the 
pulilic  mind  on  a subject  of  this  nature  who  has  not  been 
favored  with  extensive  and  varied  orportunities  for  the  most 
delicate  experiments  in  vital  electricity,  and  for  minute  and 
critical  observations  in  the  subtile  chemistry  of  animal  life. 
The  writer’s  opportunities  for  a microscopic  inspection  of 
these  vital  mysteries  have  been  quite  too  limited' to  justify 


EVILS  OF  EXCESSIVE  PROCREATION. 


121 


the  expression  of  an  opinion  ; and  as  this  field  is  far  removed 
from  the  sphere  of  ordinary  observation,  I will  leave  it  to 
some  future  author,  whose  capacity  for  critical  investigation 
may  be  equal  to  the  task,  and  whose  opportunities  may  be 
commensurate  with  his  desires  and  the  peculiar  claims  of  the 
subject.  In  the  meantime,  those  who  desire  to  become  better 
acquainted  with  the  physiological  theory  of  impregnation, 
may,  if  they  please,  peruse  the  works  of  Blumenbach, 
Velpeau,  Spallanzani,  Dutrochet,  and  other  writers  on  Em- 
bryology. 

Under  the  influence  of  our  corrupt  civilization  the  prop- 
agation of  the  species  is  so  rapid,  that  extreme  poverty 
becomes  the  common  inheritance  of  millions.  Among  the 
poor  and  laboring  people  the  population  increases  with  the 
greatest  rapidity.  This  is  not,  of  course,  to  J)e  mainly 
ascribed  to  the  superior  strength  of  their  vital  energies  and 
animal  passions  ; nor,  on  the  other  hand,  chiefly  to  the  ener- 
vating influence  of  a life  of  indolent  pleasure  and  luxurious 
indulgence,  on  the  part  of  the  wealthier  classes.  It  does 
not  require  the  vision  of  a seer  to  enable  the  discerning  mind 
to  suggest  other  sufficient  reasons  for  this  difference,  the 
particular  elucidation  of  which  may  not  be  appropriate  in 
this  place.  Suffice  it  to  say,  thousands  of  embryotic  forms  of  j 
humanity  are  every  year  destroyed  by  professional  men  and  j 
methods.  Multitudes  thus  perish  in  secret  which  no  man 
can  number.  Precisely  where  Nature  develops  the  germs 
of  new  life,  and  God  unfolds  immortal  entities,  they  find 
their  sepulchers.  If  the  poor  are  not  restrained,  in  this 
respect,  by  reason  and  conscience,  they  may  be  by  their 
ignorance  of  such  destructive  arts  as  have  prevailed  among 


122 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  more  polished,  fashionable  and  affluent  circles.  Those 
who  possess  wealth  and  influence,  but  whose  false  or  super- 
ficial culture  may  have  obscured  the  moral  perceptions,  are 
often  the  first  to  shrink  from  the  most  solemn  responsibilities, 
and  they  have  not  been  the  last  to  pollute  their  own  souls  by 
the  foul  sin  of  foeticide,  now  so  prevalent  even  among  the 
polite  and  professedly  pious  circles  of  modern  society. 

The  circumstances  of  the  laboring  classes,  more  especially 
in  great  cities  and  populous  manufacturing  districts,  are  such 
that  parents  who  have  a numerous  progeny,  can  scarcely 
provide  adequate  food  and  clothing.  Under  these  unfavor- 
able conditions,  the  education  of  the  young  is  of  necessity 
sadly  neglected  ; and  if  soul  and  body  are  kept  together  for 
awhile,  it  is  that  the  former  may  be  vailed  in  darkness,  and 
the  latter  clothed  with  rags.  Both  are  almost  inevitably 
engulphed  in  the  great  maelstrom  of  social  wrongs  and  pop- 
ular vices  ; and  thus  vast  multitudes  ignobly  perish — 

“ Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung.” 

They  are  all  unnoticed  and  unknoion  while  living,  except 
those  who,  with  desperate  energy,  inscribe  their  names  on 
the  rolls  of  infamy,  leaving  their  frightful  record  in  lines 
of  blood. 

These  monstrous  evils,  which  so  enfeeble,  debase  and 
scourge  our  country  and  the  civilized  world,  arc  not  to  be 
removed  by  sherilfs,  nor  can  they  be  shut  up  in  prisons  and 
kept  out  of  sight.  Moreover,  they  are  not  likely  to  be 
greatly  diminislied  so  long  as  we  are  surrounded  by  tlie 
present  imperfect  social  conditions,  and  our  ideas  of  virtue 
and  humanity  are  not  elevated  above  the  legal  and  fashion- 
able standards.  These  evils,  great  as  tlicy  confessedly  are, 


EVILS  QF  EXCESSIVE  PROCREATIDN. 


123 


under  the  most  auspicious  circumstances,  are  liable  to  be 
frequently  aggravated  by  the  commercial  and  financial  revul- 
sions which  occur  in  this  country,  from  what  incidental 
causes  it  is  not  my  object  to  inquire.  It  is  at  least  apparent 
to  all  observers  that  the  great  forces  and  interests  of  the 
business  world  are  often  temporarily  deranged  or  paralyzed 
so  that  many  are  reduced  by  extreme  want  to  some  fatal 
alternative.  Thus  thousands  are  every  year  driven  to 
desperation  and  ruin  by  some  dire  necessity.  If  we  do  not 
find  an  efficient  remedy  for  these  evils  in  the  wholesome  re- 
straints of  a higher  moral  science,  and  the  realization  of  a 
purer  and  nobler  life,  it  must  follow— as  our  country  becomes 
more  populous — that  these  evils  will  naturally  and  inevi- 
tably  increase,  until — ^in  the  United  States  as  in  the  Old 
World — millions  will  be  chained  from  the  hour  of  their  birth 
to  the  low  sphere  of  degrading  servitude,  famine  feed  on 
multitudes,  and  despairing  souls,  with  their  necessities  like  a 
millstone  about  their  necks,  be  swallowed  up  in  the  abyss  of 
hopeless  suffering  and  rayless  oblivion. 

That  the  multitudes,  however  imperfect  and  deformed, 
will  wholly  restrain  their  natural,  and  especially  their  un- 
natural impulses,  our  knowledge  of  human  nature  does  not 
authorize  us  to  infer.  We  are  not  visionary  enough  to  even 
dream  that  ordinary  mortals  can  be  suddenly  transformed 
into  angels  of  the  celestial  degree,  by  the  total  annihilation 
of  their  animal  instincts.  No  such  merciless  crucifixion  of 
human  nature  is  demanded  ; nor  is  such  a state  of  ethereal- 
ization,  for  the  present,  to  be  desired.  For,  if  it  were  fairly 
inaugurated,  propagation  might  be  suspended  ; or,  to  say  the 

least,  the  race  become  so  ethereal  as  to  be  unfitted  for  the 

9 


124 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


present  state  of  the  natural  world.  But  I would  have  men 
obey  the  dicta  of  Beason  and  Nature.  Moreover,  the  present 
rapid  indiscriminate,  and  lawless  propagation  of  tlie  species 
is  not  natural ; on  the  contrary,  it  is  at  war  with  Nature. 
At  the  same  time,  the  sense  of  moral  obligation  is  perpetually 
violated,  and  thousands  are  virtually  put  to  death  by  those 
who  should  be  their  natural  preservers.  Who  does  not 
know  that,  in  a state  of  nature,  offspring  are  far  less  nu- 
merous than  they  are  under  the  influence  of  our  corrupt 
civilization.  We  have  only  to  look  at  the  facts  developed 
in  the  character  and  history  of  the  North  American  Indians, 
to  perceive  that,  in  this  respect — as  well  as  in  other  charac- 
teristics of  civilized  life — we  are  aliens  from  Nature,  who 
rashly  trample  down  her  institutions,  and  yet  murmur  be- 
cause we  are  appropriately  arraigned  before  her  tribunal, 
and  punished  as  her  righteous  Lawgiver  decrees. 

We  have  a miserable  conventional  morality,  sanctioned 
alike  by  the  ministers  of  Religion  and  Law,  and  withal 
fatally  fashionable.  It  leaves  Virtue  to  wander  about  slip- 
shod, and  sends  Chastity  on  an  exploring  expedition  into 
‘ ideal  regions  ; while  it  covers  lust  and  crime  witli  fine  linen 
and  a marriage  certificate.  The  votaries  of  this  legal  mor- 
ality— who  can  conceive  of  nothing  higher — arc  ragged  and 
filthy  as  the  lazaroni.  Such  men  are  virtuous  according  to 
tlie  statute,  and  as  pure  as  the  legal  definition  of  chastity 
requires.  The  law  provides  that  they  shall  only  be  allowed 
to  debase  and  destroy  one  fair  object  at  the  same  time.  One 
after  another  they  may  defile  the  wliite  slirincs  ; commit 
sacrilege  in  temples  cons^rated  to  Love  by  tlie  ])rcscncc  of 
, the  Holy  Spirit ; and  like  ruthless  iconoclasts,  may  disligurc 


EVILS  OF  EXCESSIVE  PROCREATION. 


125 


the  images  of  beauty,  or  shiver  the  finest  symbols  of  the 
angelic  creation.  It  is  only  necessary  to  procure  a license 
from  a civil  magistrate.  Against  the  violence  of  such  crim- 
inals^ the  law  interposes  no  barrier.  At  the  same  time> 
conscience  has'  leave  of  absence  when  the  State  asserts  the 
paramount  dignity  and  authority  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
Courts.  The  innate  sense  of  delicacy — so  natural  to  the 
female  in  her  virgin  state — is  seldom  respected  by  sensuous 
men,  who,  like  the  carnivori^  live  on  flesh,  and  with  whom 
the  restraints  of  the  criminal  code  determine  the  precise 
limits  of  virtuous  indulgence. 

Men  are  often  grave  and  thoughtful  about  trifles,  while 
they  are  disposed  to  be  thoughtless  and  trifling  over  the 
most  important  interests  and  solemn  realities  of  life.  A 
respectable  mechanic  will  exercise  far  greater  caution  in 
tempering  a cheap  jack-hiike  than  most  people  display  in 
determining  the  tempers  of  their  own  offspring ! That  the 
predominant  feeling  and  general  tendency  of  mind  existing 
in  the  parents  at  the  time  of  conception,  and — so  far  as 
the  mother  is  concerned — during  the  successive  stages  of 
gestation,  may  determine  the  mental  characteristics  and 
prevaling  disposition  of  the  child,  is  confirmed  by  facts  which- 
are  quite  too  palpable  to  be  overlooked  or  denied,  and  of 
too  significant  and  momentous  a character  to  be  lightly 
regarded.  The  demands  of  this  essential  law  of  our  being  ’ 
will  never  be  duly  respected  so  long  as  the  generation  of, 
human  beings  is  left  to  accident  (?)  sudden  caprice,  or  uncon- 
querable passion.  Millions  of  unwelcome  children  are  forced 
into  the  world,  and  left  unarmed^to  grapple  with  a cruel 
destiny.  The  advent  of  each  is  viewed  as  a misfortune,  or, 


126 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS, 


perhaps,  regarded  as  a Providential  affliction.  Children 
generated  and  born  under  such  unsuitable  conditions  are 
liable  to  carry  with  them  life-long  consequences  of  the 
thoughtlessness  or  depravity  of  their  progenitors  ; especially 
when  the  unhappy  state  of  feeling  in  the  mother,  during  the 
whole  period  of  gestation,  has  contributed  to  fix  and  deepen 
the  impression.  They  are  liable  to  be  quite  destitute  of 
filial  affection,  and  often  possess  an  inherent  feeling  of  oppo- 
sition to  parental  influence.  It  is  criminal  in  the  extreme' 
to  assume  this  high  responsibility  without  a wise  reference 
to  the  natural  and  spiritual  relations  of  the  parties,  and  a 
due  regard  to  existing  physical,  mental,  and  moral  condi- 
tions. As  no  act  in  life  is,  or  indeed  can  be,  productive  of 
more  important  and  lasting  consequences  of  weal  or  woe, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  no  human  transaction  demands  a 
stricter  observance  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  dictates  of 
reason,  or  a more  devout  respect  for  the  sug’gestions  of  con- 
science and  religion. 

I have  intimated  that  the  legal  morality  is  defective.  In- 
deed, if  it  were  brought  to  trial  by  a Divine  standard,  under 
an  enlightened  interpretation  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  it  would 
be  perceived  to  be  grossly  immoral.  Many  women  have 
drunken  husbands,  and  by  the  stern  demands  of  the  law  are 
forced  to  live  with  them  ; and,  moreover,  to  submit  to  the 
foul  dominion  of  morbid  lusts,  excited  and  corrupted  by  un- 
natural stimulants.  Children  are  consequently  begotten  when 
'>^the  husband^s  wits  are  out  and  Reason  has  resigned  her 
throne  to  Rum.  To  submit  to  tlie  loathsome  embrace  is  suffi- 
cient to  shock  all  the  finer  sensibilities  of  woman  ; but  when 
there  is  added  to  this,  tlie  fearful  apprehension  that  she  may 


EVILS  OF  EXCESSIVE  PROCREATION. 


127 


bear  chiklreii  when  love  is  not  in  the  act  that  determines 
their  existence — that  the  offspring  may  be  conceived  in  the 
wild  delirium  of  unbridled  lust  and  intoxication — oh,  then, 
how  sadly  must  all  true  human  feelings  be  outraged  and  con- 
science violated  ! Even  life  with  such  corrupt  and  corrupt- 
ing concomitants  is  rendered  more  terrible  to  a sensitive 
mind  and  a benevolent  heart,  than  death  with  all  its  real  or 
imaginary  horrors.  But  even  this  does  not  reveal  the  deep- 
est shade  that  darkens  the  legal  standard  of  morality.  That 
is  manifest  in  the  disposition  the  law  makes  of  those  who  are 
born  out  of  wedlock.  It  often  robs  them  of  their  inheritance, 
and  thus  loads  them  with  legal  disabilities  and  with  the 
world’s  reproach,  as  if  it  were  a crime  for  the  young  and 
innocent  ones  to  live. 

Consumption,  Scrofula,  Insanity  and  other  frightful  mala- 
dies, are  known  to  be  congenital  diseases  in  many  families  ; 
and  by  an  irresistible  law  these  evils  are  transmitted  from 
one  generation  to  another.  Disease  poisons  the  currents  of 
vitality  ; the  blood  of  nations  is  corrupted,  and  death  is  mir-"^ 
rored  in  the  very  fountains  of  this  vitiated  life.  Is  there  no 
remedy  for  these  stupendous  ills  ? Must  they  be  perpetuated 
and  augmented  ad  infinitum  under  the  shallow  and  blasphe- 
mous pretext  that  Providence  thus  decrees  ? Shall  foul  cor- 
ruption continue  to  be  generated  in  high  and  low  places, 
dressed  in  fine  linen  and  taken  to  church  to  be  baptized  ? 
Must  deformity,  suffering  and  death  be  immortalized  in  the 
flesh  that  doctors  may  be  supported  ? These  are  grave  ques- 
tions which  humane  and  rational  men  are  in  conscience  bound 
to  answer.  There  is  at  least  one  sure  way  to  arrest  this  tide 
of  wrong  and  ruin.  Alen  and  ivomen  luJiose  original  constitu- . 


128 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tions  or  liahits  of  life  unfit  them  for  assuming  smh  a resportsi- 
hility,  should  not  become  parents.  The  streams  of  evil  which 
have  corrupted  society  so  long  must  be  cut  ojff  at  their  source  ; 
and  this  can  only  be  done  by  suspending  the  processes  of  re- 
production wherever  the  conditions  are  such  as  to  render 
their  continuance  either  inhuman  or  unwise. 

They  are  not  common  offenders  against  Humanity  and 
Heaven  who  legalize  great  wrongs  and  make  iniquity  re 
spectable  ; who  polish  the  chains  of  low  desire  and  gild  the 
souks  dungeon  walls  ; who — worse  than  all — (in  the  form  of 
a comely  personality)  lead  foul  lusts  and  secret  crimes  to  the 
baptism  and  the  communion.  Nay  ; such  are  not  vulgar 
sinners  ; nor  will  an  ordinary  atonement  sufi&ce  for  these. 
A righteous  retribution  will  doubtless  banish  them  from 
Heaven,  and  leave  them  to  wander  afar — until,  like  the  lost 
Peri,  they  move  the  crystal  bars  of  Paradise  by  tears  of 
penitence. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


MENTAL  ELECTROTYPING  ON  VITiAL  SURFACES, 

■Relations  of  Light  and  Electricity  to  Vegetable  Chemistry — Prismatic  office 
of  the  Flowers — Electrotyping  on  the  body  of  a living  Man — Philosophy 
of  marking  Children —Relations  of  Poetry  and  Pictures  to  Ideality  and 
Beauty— Influence  of  a Mouse  and  a Minister — Reproduction  of  the  Golden 
Locks,  and  Reflection  of  the  Violet  Ray — John  the  Baptist  and  the  Bo}'- 
with  one  Suspender — A mournful  Case — Results  of  Obedience  to  the  Law 

IN  the  organic  chemistry  of  the  living  world  Electricity  and 
Light  are  the  ever-active  agents  on  whose  subtile  powers 
the  most  delicate  processes  in  Nature  constantly  depend. 
We  are  assured  by  curious  scientific  experimenters  that  the 
growth  of  plants  has  been  immensely  stimulated  by  electrical, 
currents  artificially  generated,  and  directed  to  their  roots. 
When  this  agent  is  thus  set  free,  it  moves  the  grosser  elements 
through  which  the  currents  are  transmitted,  or  as  far  as  the 
electric  excitation  extends,  stimulating  molecular  attraction, 
changing  the  polarities  and  the  relations  of  the  ultimate 
atoms,  modifying  and  determining  chemical  affinities  and 
combinations — so  that  the  assimilation  of  foreign  particles  i. 
greatly  accelerated,  and  the  vegetable  organism  correspond 
ingly  enlarged.  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark,  that  such  trees 
as  have  pointed^  needh-shaped  leaves^  like  the  pine,  are  invari- ' 
ably  evergreens.  This  fact  suggests  the  idea  that  possibly 


130 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  innumerable  points  which  such  trees  present  may  so  at- 
tract the  atmospheric  electricity  as  not  only  to  preserve  the 
^ fluidity  of  the  sap  in  the  lowest  temperature,  but  also  to 
prevent  its  receding  from  the  exposed  surfaces  of  the  branches 
when  the  mercury  falls  below  the  freezing  point. 

That  light  is  indispensable  in  the  chemistry  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  must  be  apparent  to  every  observer.  The  meanest 
shrub,  or  the  humblest  wayside  flower  makes  silent  but  signi- 
ficant proclamation  of  this  truth.  The  germs  tliat  are  buried 
in  the  soil  all  sprout  upward  toward  the  ethereal  regions  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  never  downward  toward  the  center  of 
the  earth.  By  a law  of  Nature  they  all  reach  out  after  the 
light.  The  flowers  open  with  the  morning,  and  close  when 
day  retires  beyond  the  evening  star.  The  rich  verdure  that 

(clothes  the  fields  and  forests  is  fresh  and  beautiful,  as  if,  at 
the  world^s  baptism,  an  emerald  sphere  had  been  fused  in  the 
, sun  • and  all  the  gorgeous  colors  of  the  floral  empire  arc  born 
of  LIGHT  ! The  flowers  are  the  living  prisms  in  whose  deli- 
cate and  beautiful  structures  the  primal  rays  are  mysteriously 
separated,  variously  combined,  and  reflected  with  such  purity 
and  intensity  as  admits  of  no  successful  imitation  by  human 
effort,  aided  by  the  most  accomplished  art. 

The  rays  reflected  from  the  outlines  of  an  object  to  the 
eye  leave  its  image  on  the  choroid  membrane ; or,  passing 
through  the  camera,  produce  a semblance  of  its  form,  with 
appropriate  lights  and  shadows,  on  any  delicate  surface  made 
sensitive  by  a suitable  chemical  preparation.  In  a similar 
manner  the  forms  and,  to  some  extent,  the  colors  of  objects 
may  be  electrotyped  on  the  external  surfaces  of  living  humau 
bodies.  I believe  there  arc  several  wcll-authciiticated  facts 


MENTAL  ELECTROTYPING  ON  VITAL  SURFACES. 


131 


illustrative  of  this  singular  susceptibility.  It  is  not  long 
since  it  was  stated  in  the  public  journals  that  a man  who  was 
standing  near  a tree  when  it  was  struck  by  lightning,  imme- 
diately presented  a vivid  picture  of  the  tree  on  the  exposed 
side  of  his  body.  While  he  was  not  fatally  injured  by  the 
shock,  it  would  nevertheless  appear  that  the  passage  of  the 
current  so  near  him  acted  on  the  chemical  constituents  of  his 
body  with  such  power  as  to  electrotype  the  nearest  object  on 
the  cuticle.  It  is  also  alleged  that  the  bodies  of  several 
persons  killed  by  lightning  have  exhibited  a similar  phe- 
nomenon. 

The  singular  ejffects  produced  on  the  unborn  child  by  the 
sudden  mental  emotions  of  the  mother  are  remarkable  exam- 
ples of  this  kind  of  electro  typing  on  the  sensitive  surfaces  of 
living  forms.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  mind’s  action,  in 
such  cases,  may  increase  or  diminish  the  molecular  deposites 
in  the  several  portions  of  the  system.  The  precise  place 
which  each  separate  particle  assumes  in  the  new  organic 
structure  may  be  determined  by  the  influence  of  thought  or 
feeling.  If  in  the  mother  there  exists  any  unusual  tendency 
of  the  vital  forces  to  the  brain,  at  the  critical  period,  there 
will  be  a similar  cerebral  development  and  activity  in  the 
ofifspring.  A lady  who,  during  the  period  of  gestatiou,  was 
chiefly  employed  in  reading  the  poets,  and  in  giving  form  to 
her  day-dreams  of  the  ideal  world,  at  the  same  time  gave  to 
her  child  (in  phrenological  parlance,)  large  Ideality  and  a 
liighly  imaginative  turn  of  mind.  Some  time  since  I met 
with  a youth  avIio  has  finely  molded  limbs  and  a symmetrical 
form  throughout.  His  mother  has  a large,  lean,  attenuated 
frame,  that  does  not  offer  so  much  as  a single  suggestion  of 


132 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


the  beautiful.  The  boy  is  doubtless 'indebted  for  his  line 
form  to  the  presence  of  a beautiful  French  lithograph  in  his 
mother’s  sleeping  apartment,  and  which  presented  for  her 
contemplation  the  faultless  form  of  a naked  child. 

Any  object  of  intense  desire,  or  that  occasions  sudden  sur 
prise  or  extreme  fear,  is  liable  to  be  impressed  on  the  foetus. 
These  effects  are  most  frequent  among  women  whose  minds 
and  nervous  systems  are  most  active  and  impressible.  By 
this  psycho-electrical  action  external  objects  are  instantly 
pictured  on  the  delicate  surface  of  the  living  form.  This 
sudden  involuntary  action  of  the  passions  of  tlie  mind  on  and 
through  the  forces  of  the  body,  has  produced  many,  startling 
effects,  and  thousands  of  human  beings  carry  with  them 
through  life  the  living  illustrations — sometimes  mournful  in 
the  extreme — of  this  mysterious  power.  On  one  occasion, 
after  the  delivery  of  a lecture  in  a small  town  in  Central 

New  York,  I went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  K , to  pass  the 

night.  My  theme  had  been,  the  power  of  the  mind  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  organic  formation  and  vital  action  of  the  body, 
and  also  in  the  various  expressions  of  whicli  the  liiiman  face 
is  susceptible.  Mrs.  C , who  was  a member  of  the  house- 

hold, intimated  a desire  to  exhibit  a marked  illustration  of 
the  subject.  Accordingly,  calling  her  little  son,  of  the  age 
of  three  years,  to  her  side,  she  exposed  liis  back  to  tlie  in- 
spection of  the  company.  Between  his  shoulders  there  was 
a most  perfect  representation  of  a mouse.  Tlie  mark — whicli 
was  elevated  somewhat  above  the  surrounding  surface — was 
literally  covered  with  a thick  coat  of  line  hair,  like  that  of 
the  animal  represented  ; and,  what  was  still  more  surjirisiiig, 
the  cuticle  also  precisely  resembled  the  skin  of  a mouse. 


MENTAL  ELECTllOTYPING  ON  VITAL  SURFACES.  1P.3 

Tliis  was  the  mind’s  work  of  an  instant ; and  while  such  facts 
demonstrate  its  supremacy  over  the  elements  of  matter,  they 
also  indicate  the  dano^er — under  like  circumstances — of 
yielding  to  sudden  impulses,  and  the  importance  of  a supreme 
self-control. 

The  operation  of  this  psycho-physiological  law  has  sul> 
jected  more  than  one  innocent  woman  to  grave  suspicion.  ’ 
Mere  admiration  of  a person — if  the  emotion  be  continuous 
and  strong — may  suffice  to  impress  the  image  of  the  admired 
object — more  or  less  perfectly — on  the  offspring.  That  re- 
markable effects  are  produced  in  this  way,  the  intelligent 
reader  will  not  be  disposed  to  deny  ; and  surely  the  philo- 
sophical observer  will  not  be  the  first  to  indulge  in  unchari- 
table suspicions  of  female  infidelity,  should  his  children 
resemble  some  one  else  rather  than  himself.  Some  years 
since  the  writer  was  acquainted  with  a married  lady,  who 
lived  in  Fairfield  county.  Conn.,  and  was  universally  re- 
spected and  esteemed  for  her  exemplary  life  and  unblemished 
character.  She  was  strongly  attached  to  her  church ; and 
her  pastor — who  was  an  earnest  and  forcible  speaker — 
realized  her  ideal  of- early  and  uncorrupted  manhood.  The 
lady  was  accustomed  to  listen — on  each  succeeding  Sabbath 
— to  his  eloquent  discourses,  with  reverent  and  wrapt  atten- 
tion. She  possessed  a lively  imagination,  and  a strong,  but 
doubtless  a strictly  legitimate  interest  in  the  young  clergy- 
man ; and  the  image  so  often  presented  to  the  eye  and  the 
mind,  was  transmitted  to  another.  During  the  second  year 


* It  would  seem  from  the  account  given  in  Genesis,  (chapter  xxx,)  that  the 
patriarch  Jacob  understood  this  law,  and  that  it  enabled  him  to  practice  a 
pious  fraud,  whereby  he  secured  to  himself  the  flocks  of  Laban. 


134 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  the  ministry  of  Mr. , in  that  place,  the  lady  referred 

to  became  the  mother  of  a son,  wlio,  from  his  birth,  was  ob- 
served to  resemble  the  minister  ; nor  is  the  likeness  less  ap- 
parent since  the  child  has  become  a tall  and  graceful  youth. 

A gentleman  of  our  acquaintance,  who  has  very  dark 
eyes,  hair  and  beard,  is  wedded  to  a lady  with  brown  hair, 
and  a complexion  not  lighter  than  his  own.  Of  nine  chil- 
dren— the  offspring  of  their  marriage — six  are  living,  and, 
with  a single  exception,  they  all  have  dark,  straight  hair 
and  hazel  eyes.  Indeed,  for  several  generations,  not  a 
single  member  of  either  family  has  had  curly  hair.  The 
exceptional  case  is  a fair  youth  with  large,  blue,  expressive 
eyes  and  golden  locks,  with  a natural  tendency  to  curl. 
Some  time  before  his  birth  the  parents  had  occasion  to  spend 
a month  with  a family  in  Boston,  where  there  was  a radiant 
child  with  delicate  skin,  mild  blue  eyes,  and  a profusion  of 
sunny  curls.  The  lady  visitor  became  deeply  interested  in 
that  beautiful  child,  and  often  gazed  at  it  with  rapturous  ad- 
miration and  delight.  The  strong  impulse  of  the  mind  thus 
electrotyped  the  image  on  her  own  offspring,  so  regulating  the 
subtile  processes  of  the  vital  chemism,  as  not  only  to  de- 
termine its  general  complexion,  but  also  the  precise  color  of 
the  hair,  and  even  blending  the  sublimated  elements  in  the 
organic  chemistry  of  the  eye  with  such  nice  })recision  as  to 
fix  and  reflect  the  violet  ray. 

The  human  mind  thus  leaves  a multitude  of  images — 
beautiful  and  terrible — not  only  on  the  delicate  organization 
through  which  it  pcr])etually  manifests  its  ])Owers — and 
which  doubtless  contains  tlic  mystical  records  of  all  its 
feeling,  thought  and  action — but  the  mental  impulses,  wlicn 


MENTAL  ELECTROTYPING  ON  VITAL  SURFACES.  135 

sufficiently  inteiisilied,  are  reproduced  in  those  vvlio  come 
after.  If  such  external  objects  and  scenes  as  occasion  the 
mental  excitement,  leave  no  visible  outlines  on  the  face  or 
form,  they  may  still  be  expressed  in  another  way,  and  be  no 
less  distinguishable.  A gentleman  who  resides  in  Le  Eoy, 
N.  Y.,  ill  an'  interview  with  the  writer,  some  time  since,, 
related  a singular  fact,  that  may  be  appropriately  introduced 
in  this  connection.  His  wife  had  a beautiful  picture  of  John  > 
the  Baptist  hanging  in  her  room.  The  figure  was  in  a nude  i 
state,  except  the  loins,  which  were  encircled  with  the  girdle 
of  camel’s  hair,  supported  by  a single  strap  passing  over  one 
shoulder.  The  lady  being  in  delicate  health  for  some  time,  ^ 
(antecedent.to  the  birth  of  a son,  now  some  sixteen  years  of 
age,)  had  occasion  to  spend  much  of  her  time  on  a couch 
from  which  the  picture  was  constantly  exposed  to  view.  ' 
The  youth  referred  to  presents  one  of  the  greatest  novelties  ■ 
in  the  category  of  psychological  phenomena.  It  is  a curious  ^ 
fact  that  he  tuill  never  icear  hut  one  susj^ender!  If  com- 
manded to  put  on  a pair,  he  will  obey  ; but  he  is  quite  sure  * 
to  have  them  both  over  the  same  shoulder  that  supports  the  ■ 
strap  and  the  girdle  in  the  picture. 

I well  remember  a young  man,  whose  earth-life,  of  some 
thirty  years’  duration,  was  the  frightful  embodiment  and 
expression  of  one  terrible  scene.  He  had  not  opened  his  eyes 
to  behold  the  light  of  the  natural  world,  when  a desolating 
tornado  passed  over  his  native  town.  The  tall  oaks,  which 
had  braved  the  storms  of  centuries,  bowed  low  as  the  slender 
grass  bends  in  the  summer’s  breeze  ; or,  rather  as  the  grain 
is  leveled  by  the  reaper’s  sickle.  It  was  a fatal  hour  ! The 
sufferings  of  many  years  seemed  condensed  into  one  awful 


136 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


moment  of  unspeakable  horror,  and  the  terrible  scene  cast 
its  dark  shadow  over  the  whole  life  of  a human  being. 
That  tempest  was  reproduced  in  that  man.  For  nearly 
thirty  years— and  until  the  close  of  his  mortal  existence — • 
his  eyes  rolled  in  their  sockets  with  a strange  delirious  ex- 
pression. Ever  and  anon  he  sighed  heavily,  as  the  winds 
sigh  through  the  tall  trees  ; and  his  head  and  all  his  limbs 
swayed  to  and  fro,  perpetually,  as  the  forest  boughs  are 
moved  when  the  breath  of  the  tempest  sweeps  over  them. 
Poor  mortal ! his  melancholy  life  is  over,  and  he  has  found 
rest  at  last  where  the  storms  of  earth  and  time  shall  disturb 
his  repose  no  more ! 

This  case  graphically  illustrates  the  action  of  a law  that 
operates  as  irresistibly  as  gravitation  throughout  the  realm 
of  our  organic  existence,  and  which  is  scarcely  less  manifest 
in  its  ordinary  ejffects.  By  disregarding  this  law  our  children 
may  be  monsters  in  their  physical  conformation  ; or,  with 
respect  to  mind  and  character,  they  may  be  the  breathing, 
conscious  shadows  of  gigantic  wrongs — for  all  moral,  social, 
and  political  evils  are  but  the  reflected  images  of  the  imper- 
fect conditions  under  which  we  “ live  and  move  and  have 
our  being. On  the  contrary,  let  that  law  be  wisely  re- 
spected, and  those  who  shall  succeed  the  present  generation — 
in  the  drama  of  practical  life  and  the  records  of  authentic 
history — will  present  superior  types  of  womanly  grace  and 
manly  perfection  ; and  thus  the  Race  may  advance,  in  all 
that  imparts  a real  value  to  life  and  true  dignity  to  the 
human  character,  until  the  glory  of  a moral  transfiguration 
— like  a mantle  of  light  and  a crown  of  joy — encircles  the 
universal  Humanity. 


CHAPTER  XIII, 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS 


UPON  THE  AHND  AND  THE  MOKAI5. 


Definition  of  Beauty — The  Views  of  Kant,  Burke,  Hogarth,  Alison,  Dugald 
Stewart  and  Goethe — Influence  of  Music — Its  action  on  the  nervous  circu- 
lation of  Animals — As  a Remedial  Agent — Case  of  Saul — Melodies  of  Na- 
ture— Irresistible  power  of  Gentleness  and  Love — Miss  Dix  in  the  Maniac’s 
cell — The  Apostle  John,  Fenelon,  Oberlin  and  Howard — The  Mystical 
Book  of  the  Recording  Angel  —An  essential  Law  of  Organized  Existence — 
Assimilation  of  Moral  Elements — How  we  are  transformed  by  our  Ideals 
— Materialism  of  Modern  Utilitarians — Material  Symbols  of  Religious 
Ideas — The  Goths  in  Italy — Grecian  and  Roman  Art— Lessons  from  Nature 
— A Poet’s  Vision— The  Visitor  in  White  Raiment — Fashioning  the  Angel 
Within. 


C CORDING  to  Kant,  Beauty  is  the  regular  conforma- 


tion of  an  object  of  Nature  or  Art,  in  which  the  mind 
intuitively  perceives  this  configuration,  without  reflecting 
upon  its  ultimate  design  or  purpose.  Burke  seriously  sup- 
posed that  beauty  consisted  in  small  forms,  smooth  surfaces 
and  delicate  structures.  The  celebrated  Hogarth,  in  his 
Analysis,  found  it  in  curved  lines,  whilst  Alison  insisted 
that  “ if  there  were  any  original  and  independent  beauty, 
in  any  'particular  for'm^  the  preference  of  this  form  would 
be  early  and  decidedly  marked,  both  in  the  language  of 
children  and  the  opinions  of  mankind.^’  While  acute  critics 
and  great  artists  have  disagreed  respecting  the  sources  of 
beauty,  as  well,  as  the  philosophy  of  its  effects  on  the  mind 


“A  Thing  of  Beauty  is  a joy  forever.” 


138 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  character,  1 may  be  allowed  to  discover  this  supreme 
excellence  wherever  they  respectively  found  it,  and  also 
where  they  did  not  so  much  as  look  for  it  at  all. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  definitions  already  cited, 
virtually  restrict  the  application  of  the  term  to  visible  out- 
lines and  material  proportions  ; and  to  such  other  super- 
ficial graces  and  aspects  as  the  mind  perceives  through  the 
direct  agency  of  the  senses.  We  can  scarcely  accept  such 
definitions  so  long  as  the  very  sources  of  all  outward  beauty 
are  internal,  invisible  and  divine.  If  the  harmony  of  the 
several  parts  of  the  human  body,  and  of  all  external  forms, 
constitutes  physical  beauty,  there  must  also  be  intellectual, 
moral  and  spiritual  beauty ; and  these  consist  in  the  sym- 
metrical development,  harmonious  union,  and  esthetic  action 
of  all  the  human  faculties  and  affections.  To  be  suffi- 
ciently comprehensive,  tlie  definition  of  Beauty  must  apply 
to  all  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  excellence.  The 
Universe  is  its  majestic  temple,  adorned  with  expressive 
symbols,  and  consecrated  by  a pure  and  perpetual  ministry, 
Every  splendid  creation  of  God  in  Nature  and  of  human 
genius  in  Art,  is  an  altar  before  which  men  admire  and 
adore  the  indwelling  Divinity.  This  is  no  profane  adora- 
tion. The  mere  Mammon  worshiper  may,  indeed,  be  re- 
garded as  a miserable  idolater  ; but  Life — Genius — Love 
Beauty — all  these  are  earthly  revelations  of  the  Absolute 
Perfection.  The  glory  of  the  Shekinah  shines  out  from  the 
material  forms  of  the  world,  as  through  a diaphanous  vail, 
and  in  the  light  of  this  perpetual  transfiguration  we 
— “ Look  through  Nature  up  to  nature’s  God.” 

If  we  restrict  the  application  of  the  term  to  the  works 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 

of  Nature  or  Art,  Beauty  must  nevertheless  be  understood 
to  compreliend  many  of  tho^e  lofty  attributes  and  qualities 
which  the  word  Sublime  is  especially  used  to  distinguish. 
But  the  terms  are  by  no  means  synonymous.  The  one  may 
be  properly  applied  to  whatever  is  fitted  to  produce  pleas- 
urable sensations  ; on  the  other  hand,  the  scenes  that  in- 
spire the  deepest  awe,  and  the  objects  and  events  which 
excite  the  greatest  terror,  may  be  replete  with  the  elements 
of  sublimity.  It  was  observed  by  Dugakl  Stewart  that  the 
distinctions  of  several  authors  are  not  usually  warranted  by 
a fundamental  difference.  While  Beauty  and  Sublimity 
have  many  attributes  in  common,  it  will  be  perceived,  that 
each  is  characterized  by  peculiar  elements  which  distin- 
guish it  from  the  other.  Several  writers,  including  the  elo- 
quent Burke  himself,  feeling  at  times  that  any  definition 
of  Beauty  that  restricts  it  to  symmetry  of  form,  harmony  of 
color,  and  “ poetry  of  motion,’’  is  too  contracted  to  express 
the  whole  truth,  have  been  constrained  to  admit  in  fact,  at 
least,  if  not  in  words — that  Beauty  consists  in  all  such  quali- 
ties as  awaken  emotions  of  tenderness,  affection  and  delight.  ’ 

1 Goethe’s  perception  of  beauty  was  too  exquisite  to  be  expressed  ; and  in 
his  judgment  the  divine  charm  was  so  intangible  as  neither  to  admit  of  pre- 
cise description  nor  logical  explanations.  The  Poet  of  Weiuiar — regarded 
by  a princely  admirer  as  “ the  third  in  the  great  triumvirate  with  Homer 
and  Shakspeare” — thus  illustrates  the  subject : 

‘‘Beauty  is  inexplicable.  It  appears  to  us  a dream,  when  we  contemplate 
the  works  of  the  great  artists.  It  is  a hovering,  floating,  and  glittering  sha- 
dow, whose  outline  eludes  the  grasp  of  definition.  Mendelssohn,  and  others, 
trierl  to  catch  beauty  as  a butterfly,  and  pin  it  down  for  inspection.  They 
have  succeeded  in  the  same  way  as  one  succeeds  with  the  butterfly  ; the 
poor  animal  tremldes  and  struggles,  and  its  brightest  colors  are  gone ; or 
if  you  catch  it  without  spoiling  the  colors,  you  have  at  best  a stiff  and  awk- 
ward corpse.  It  wants  that  w'hich  is  most  essential,  namely,  life — sph-it 
which  spreads  beauty  on  every  thing.” 

10 


140 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


The  word  beauty  is  not  ordinarily  restricted  to  things 
cognizable  by  the  vision  alone.  *By  a very  natural  transition 
it  is  applied  to  musical  sounds,  and  also  to  whatever  either 
addresses  the  imagination,  the  reason  or  the  moral  sense,  in 
such  a manner  as  to  gratify  the  human  faculties  and  affec- 
tions. The  sense  of  beauty  is  expressed  with  great  delicacy 
and  irresistible  power  in  harmonic  combinations  of  sounds  ; 
or,  more  properly,  by  a succession  of  atmospheric  vibrations 
occurring  in  consonance  with  the  laws  of  Acoustics.  The 
gentle  undulations  of  the  air,  occasioned  by  the  regular  vi- 
bration of  a sonorous  body,  produce  astonishing  effects  on 
the  nervous  systems  of  men  and  beasts.  The  inferior  ani- 
mals are  never  wholly  insensible  of  the  mysterious  influence 
of  Music.  Even  the  Reptilia  yield  to  the  irresistible  fascina- 
tion. The  native  Americans  and  the  serpent  charmers  of 
India  have  this  singular  power  in  a remarkable  degree. 
When  the  Indian  juggler  sings  a slow  tune,  or  blows  gently 
on  his  instrument  made  of  reeds,  the  serpents  raise  their 
heads  and  move  to  suit  the  measure  of  the  music. 


1 The  following  curious  illustration  of  the  mysterious  influence  of  music  on 
the  nervous  circulation,  and  consequently  on  the  functions  of  animals,  is  ex- 
tracted from  one  of  Madame  Bretano’s  letters  to  the  German  poet,  Goethe  : 

“ This  winter  I had  a spider  in  my  room  ; when  I played  upon  the  guitar  it 
descended  hastily  into  a web,  which  it  spun  lower  down,  I placed  myself  be- 
fore it  and  drew  my  fingers  across  tiie  strings  ; it  was  clearly  seen  how  it 
vibrated  through  its  little  limbs.  When  I changed  the  cord  it  changed  its 
movements— they  were  involuntary  ; by  each  different  arpeggio,  the  rhythm 
in  its  motions  was  also  changed.  It  cannot  be  otherwise — this  little  being 
was  joy-penetrated  or  spirit-imbued,  as  long  as  my  music  lasted  ; when  the 
strain  was  ended,  it  retired. 

Another  little  play-fellow  was  a mouse  5 but  he  was  more  taken  by  vocal 
music.  He  chiefly  made  his  appearance  when  I sung  the  gamut  ; the  fuller 
f swelled  the  tones,  the  nearer  he  catno My  master  was  much  delighted 


INFLUKXCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS.  141 

This  subtile  and  masterly  power  over  the  mind  and  ner- 
vous system  of  Man  has  been  observed  by  physicians,  physi- 
ologists and  pliilosophers,  in  almost  every  age  ; and  so  re- 
markable have  been  its  effects,  and  withal  so  beneficial,  that 
it  has  been  employed  as  a remedial  agent  in  certain  forms 
of  disease.  There  may  be  different  opinions  respecting  the 
influence  of  music  on  the  general  character ; but  all  agree 
that  it  serves — temporarily,  at  least — to  subdue  the  baser 
passions,  and  to  awaken  emotions  of  serene  and  intense  joy. 
The  Biblical  student  will  recall  the  case  of  Saul,  king  of 
Israel,  who  being  subject  to  a species  of  madness,  was  re- 
commended to  have  recourse  to  music  as  a remedy  for  his 
gloomy  hallucination.  Accordingly,  he  Sent  for  the  Hebrew 
poet  and  musician,  the  tones  of  whose  lyre  subdued  the  ner- 
vous tension  and  mental  agitation  of  the  king,  as  the  min- 
strel’s skillful  hand  unbound 

“ the  sleeping  soul  of  Harmony. 

There  are  few  who  have  not  felt  the  power  of  Music. 
The  restless  child  falls  asleep  on  its  mother’s  bosom  with 
the  sweet  lullaby  sounding  in  its  ear.  The  worshiper  in  the 
Cathedral  service  feels  the  fire  of  devotion  kindling  in  his 
heart,  and  a subtle  influence  running  along  every  nerve  of 
sense,  as  the  lofty  arches  echo  the  solemn  strain.  All 
Nature  is  God’s  temple  ; and  every  reverent  soul  worships 
in  the  groves  or  by  the  waves  while  the  elements  chant  their 
wild  melodies  among  the  boughs  and  in  the  shells.  The  pin- 


with  the  little  animal ; he  took  great  care  not  to  disturb  him.  When  I sung 
my  songs  and  varying  melodies,  he  seemed  to  be  afraid  ; he  could  not  endure 
it  and  hastened  away.” 


142 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


nacles  and  the  caves  are  tuneful,  as  if  Euterpe  had  inspired 
the  tleni  of  the  mountain  and  the  sea.  We  feel  a mysteri- 
ous sense  of  a divine  presence  when  music  gently  rocks  the 
cradle  of  the  atmosphere.  Under  this  mysterious  influence 
the  destructive  passions  seek  repose,  and  the  wild  delirium 
of  feverish  and  brutal  desire  is  subdued.  Even  the  furious 
maniac,  whom  no  man  could  bind,  has  been  chained  by  a 
harp-string.  Music  is  medicine  for  madness  ; and  whoever 
would  at  once  restrain  and  restore  the  madman  should  go  to 
him  with  a gentle  voice  and  Moore’s  Melodies.  Twine 
musical  chords  around  his  troubled  spirit,  and  his  captivity 
will  only  make  him  gentle  and  joyful.  If  wild  beasts  are 
thus  tamed,  rude  savages  made  civil,  and  the  fierce  maniac 
rendered  harmless  as  -a  little  child,  who  shall  resist  the 
saving  power  of  Music  ? 

‘‘  Who  ne’er  hath  felt  her  hand  assuasive  steal 
Along  his  heart — that  heart  may  never  feel. 

’Tis  hers  to  chain  the  passions,  soothe  the  soul, 

To  snatch  the  dagger  and  to  dash  the  bowl 
From  Murder’s  hand  ; to  smooth  the  couch  of  care, 

Extract  the  thorns  and  scatter  roses  there.” 

/ I am  not  in  error  in  ascribing  a divine  efficacy  and  re- 
deeming power  to  that  moral  beauty  which  is  displayed  in 
gentle  words  and  righteous  deeds.  Tlie  triumphs  of  the 
celebrated  Pinel  amongst  the  inmates  of  the  mad-liouse  in 
Paris,  afi’ord  striking  illustrations  of  the  majesty  and  divin- 
ity of  that  power.  But  we  have  at  least  one  conspicu- 
ous example  at  home.  It  is  recorded  that  Miss  Dix,  on  one 
occasion,  visited  the  cell  of  a maniac  wlio  was  so  wild  and 
violent  that  he  was  kept  constantly  chained.  Slie  com- 
menced reading  the  Sermon  on  tlie  Mount,  in  a voice  modu- 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


143 


lated  with  great  delicacy  and  irresistible  pathos.  In  the 
gloom  of  that  lonely  cell,  a gentle  woman — frail  in  form 
but  divinely  strong  and  beautiful  in  the  purpose  of  her  heart ' 
and  life— communed  with  the  common  Father.  By  her  side 
was  one  whose  soul  was  dark  as  the  dismal  precincts  of  his 
own  dungeon.  The  smile  that  in  youth  illuminated  those 
features  was  soft  and  radiant  as  the  clear  light  of  a spring 
morning  without  clouds.  But  the  midday  glory  of  his  life 
was  lost  in  a deep  eclipse.  Through  the  mournful  gloom 
the  fierce  lightnings  of  disordered  passion  gleamed  out  like 
electric  flames  in  the  midnight  sky  ; while  the  tangled  locks 
floated  wildly  over  the  terrible  brow  that  once  had  been 
the  throne  of  Reason  ! 

But  the  madman  was  not  yet  beyond  the  influence  of  the 
divine  harmonies.  The  words  of  the  gentle  minister  were 
like  oil  poured  over  the  troubled  waves  of  feeling.  His 
paroxysms  gradually  subsided.  The  tender  sympathy  and 
spiritual  beauty  of  the  being  before  him  softened  his  ex- 
pression and  subdued  his  frenzy.  She  was  to  him  an  Angel 
walking  on  lifers  troubled  sea,  whose  influence  was  silent 
yet  sublime  as  the  power  that  stilled  the  waves  of  Galilee. 
The  wretched  man  bowed  his  head  and  wept  ; and  when  at 
length  the  modest  suppliant  arose  to  depart  he  attempted  to 
embrace  her,  and  declared  that  she  was  an  angel  sent  from 
Heaven  to  comfort  him  in  his  solitary  despair.  Such  are 
the  significant  illustrations  of  the  poet’s  sentiment : 

— “ Mightier  far 

Than  strength  of  nerve,  or  sinew,  or  the  chains, 

The  heavy  bolts,  and  bars  and  dungeon  walls, 

Is  Love.-' — 

^Love,  however  manifested,  is  a great  moral  harmoni- 


144 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


zer,  whose  polyglot  is  comprehended  by  all  races  of  men  ; 
whose  inspirations,  like  sunshine,  clothe  the  moral  world, 
with  perennial  beauty,  and ‘filling  even  the  wildernesses  of 
human  life  with  fresh  flowers  and  immortal  fruits.  The 
words  and  deeds  of  some  men  are  characterized’by  a grand 
harmony,  that  renders  existence  itself  a sweet  symphony  or 
a solemn  psalm.  It  is  never  in  vain  that  such  men  strive  to 
harmonize  the  moral  elements,  for  the  world  must  feel  their 
power.  When  we  are  tempest-tost,  they  stay  the  restless 
“tides  in  the  affairs  of  men’’;  they  span  the  darkness  of 
the  retiring  storm  with  the  illuminated  symbol  of  a great 
promise  ; and  when  the  deluge  of  unholy  passion  subsides 
they  open  the  windows  of  the  ark  that  the  dove  may  return. 
The  name  and  the  precepts  of  Jesus  have  been  all-power- 
ful over  the  disciples  of  every  period  and  country,  chiefly 
because  his  nature  and  his  life  were  characterized  by  the 
highest  elements  of  moral  excellence  and  spiritual  beauty. 
The  Apostle  John,  Archbishop  Fenelon,  and  John  Fredrick 
Oberlin  gave  illustrations  of  the  highest  types  of  beauty  ; 
while  the  life  of  Howard  was  a pathetic  overture  to  the 
great  unwritten  oratorio  of  the  Captives  Redeemed.  Such 
men  banish  discord  from  the  scale  of  being,  and  make  life 
musical  in  spite  of  those  who  live. 

We  are  now  to  consider  the  influence  of  external  scenes 
and  objects  in  the  development  of  the  human  mind  and  the 
formation  of  character.  The  forms  and  plienomena  of 
Nature  make  their  impressions  on  the  sensories  and  leave 
their  images  in  the  consciousness.  Owing  to  the  promin 
ence  of  present  objects  and  events,  they  may  seldom  or  never 
be  awakened  in  the  external  memory.  Indeed,  they  appear 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


J45 


to  come  and  go  in  endless  succession.  To  the  merely  sen- 
suous mind  they  are  swept  away  like  names  or  figures  traced 
in  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore.  Each  passing  wave  of  time 
and  sense  obliterates  the  previous  impression,  however  the 
images  remain  in  the  soul  forever.  The  consciousness  is  the 
Book  of  Life  v/herein  our  thoughts  and  deeds  are  recorded. 
Those  mystical  records  are  imperishable  as  the  deepest  lines 
that  mark  ,the  separate  individualities  among  men,  and  in 
the  great  Hereafter  they  will  be  recognized  as  the  spirit’s 
immortal  possessions.  / 

By  a law  of  association  those  images  are  sometimes  re- 
vived, when  forgotten  thoughts,  and  the  shadowy  forms  of 
things  perished  from  the  earth,  glide  through  the  silent  halls 
of  memory.  Occasionally,  they  come  out  in  bolder  relief  ; 
chiefly  in  some  great  emergency,  when  a sudden  shock  jars 
the  material  connections  of  the  spirit ; and  we  realize,  for 
a moment,  that  we  are  standing  on  the  confines  of  the  invisi- 
ble life  and  world.  At  such  a time,  in  the  ordeal  that  tries 
the  soul,  images  of  all  the  past  start  out — sudden  and 
specter-like — from  the  shadows,  and  appear  in  the  vivid 
outline  and  startling  detail  of  solemn  reality.  Thus,  when 
the  vail  of  flesh  shall  be  removed,  our  souls  will  stand  forth 
as  living  monuments,  inscribed  with  the  records  of  all  feeling 
• — all  thought-all  action,  which  we  have  sensed,  conceived, 
or  performed  from  first  to  last,  to  be  reviewed  in  the  all- 
revealing  light  of  eternity. 

This  is  neither  a mere  fancy  nor  an  idle  speculation  ; but 
a truth  of  inconceivable  importance  in  its  bearings  on  the 
development  and  destiny  of  the  Race.  The  poet’s  idea  that 
we  become  a part  of  whatever  is  around  us,  and  the  decla- 


146 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ration  of  an  ancient  author  that,  “ as  a man  thinketh  so  is 
he,'’’  are  manifestly  true  as  philosophical  propositions  ; for 
all  things  that  occasion  sensation  or  awaken  thought,  be- 
come incorporate  elements  in  our  individual  character  and 
social  life.  Our  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  individu- 
ality is  but  the  sum  of  all  our  experiences,  organically  com- 
bined and  endowed  with  'personality.  Thus  the  Revelator 
and  the  poet  discovered  and  announced  one  of  the  grand  es- 
sential laws  of  human  nature,  and  of  all  organized  existence. 
Plants  and  animals  are  known  to  partake  of  the  nature  of 
the  substances  they  assimilate  ; nor  can  man  be  unlike  the 
elements  which  nourish  his  body  or  serve  as  food  for  con- 
templation. All  surrounding  forms  and  substances  con- 
tribute to  supply  his  physical  and  spiritual  necessities.  In 
one  way  or  another  they  enter  into  the  composition  of  the 
body  ; they  awaken  sensations,  mold  the  forms  of  thought, 
or  otherwise  influence  the  manner  and  the  issues  of  life. 

Men  are  ever  transformed  into  the  essential  spirit  and 
express  images  of  their  Ideals,  by  a law  that  operates  as  uni- 
formly as  gravitation.  In  those  wild,  inhospitable  and  des- 
olate regions,,  where  Nature  assumes  her  roughest  garb,  and 
Art  exhibits  only  rude  and  ungraceful  forms,  we  And  men 
either  savages  or  inclined  to  barbarism.  The  images  of 
frightful  objects  and  terrible  events  are  like  themselves, 
and  hence  they  darken  and  disfigure  the  mind.  Surround 
a man  with  horrible  imagery;  place  olijects  on  every  side 
which  excite  apprehension,  resentment  and  disgust,  and 
their  terrible  outlines,  deep  shadows  and  vivid  colors,  will 
be  represented  with  fearful  fidelity  in  his  soul. 

In  the  Pacific  Isles  where  men  arc  cannibals,  every  child 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


147 


inherits  a life  of  disgusting  brutality.  The  images  im- 
pressed on  the  young  mind  vitiate  the  springs  of  being, 
distort  the  infant  visage,  and  brutalize  the  deeds  of  man- 
hood. Men  never  tliink  of  going  to  the  Cannibal  Islands 
to  complete  their  esthetic  acquirements  ; for  the  reason, 
doubtless,  that  every  person  endowed  with  common  sense 
has  some  perception  of  the  effect  of  surrounding  objects  on 
lumian  development.  In  India  and  other  unfavored  por- 
tions of  the  earth,  where  the  most  imposing  exhibitions  of 
Art  consist  of  clumsy  idols  whose  open  jaws,  glaring  eyes 
and  monstrous  forms  shock  the  nerves  of  the  civilized  world, 
we  find  that  the  human  mind  and  character  are  fashioned 
after  such  brutal  ideals.  Even  the  religion  of  the  people  is 
of  the  same  general  character.  Juggernaut  is  the  principal 
divinity,  and  his  worship  is  celebrated  by  obscene  rites  and 
exhibitions  of  shocking  barbarity.  Travelers  have  assured 
us  that,  the  road  leading  along  the  coast  of  Orissa  to  the 
temple  of  the  great  Idol,  was  paved  with  the  bleaching 
skulls  of  millions  who  have  perished  by  the  way.  Thus 
when  hideous  forms  and  corrupt  ideas  cast  their  shadows  on 
the  senses  and  tlie  souls  of  men.  they  are — by  a physical  and 
moral  necessity — incorporated  with  the  essential  elements 
of  the  human  constitution.  This  immutable  law  is  thus  re- 
vealed in  the  mournful  illustrations  of  its  power. 

But  wherever  Nature  puts  on  her  robes  of  light;  where 
Art  consecrates  temples,  and  the  ideal  perfection  is  recog- 
nized ; there  the  elements  of  beauty  —by  a natural  process 
of  assimilation — become  essentially  our  own.  There,  also, 
we  hnd  the  instrumentalities  of  human  progress,  and  the 
work  of  intellectual  culture  and  moral  refinement  actually 


148 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


going  on.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  we  associate — as 
far  as  possible — with  beautiful  forms  and  divine  ideas,  that 
we  may  imbibe  their  essential  spirit,  and  grow  into  their 
likeness  in  outward  form  and  actual  life.  Such  ideas  and 
objects  as  disturb  the  mind,  and  hence  not  only  darken  the 
soul,  but  interrupt  the  harmony  of  its  natural  life  and  phys- 
ical relations,  should  be  promptly  and  forever  dismissed,  so 
far  as  this  course  does  not  involve  a neglect  of  individual  re- 
sponsibilities and  the  public  welfare.  If  we  desire  to  escape 
contamination  we  should  cease  to  observe  and  think  of  such 
things  as  defile  the  man.  Reading  the  lives  of  traitors, 
pirates  and  other  abandoned  criminals ; witnessing  public 
executions,  and  listening  to  inflammatory  and  vindictive 
appeals  to  the  baser  passions — all  belong  to  the  same  cate- 
gory. They  inevitably  quicken  and  strengthen  the  brute 
instincts  in  human  nature,  and  hence  they  positively  pervert 
the  faculties  of  the  mind,  excite  the  destructive  propensities, 
and  degrade  the  whole  character. 

If  these  views  of  human  nature,  and  especially  of  one  of 
the  essential  laws  of  its  development  are  admitted  to  be 
well  founded,  it  will  appear  that  the  subject,  in  its  moral 
aspects,  is  of  vital  importance.  The  wide  publicity  given 
to  the  details  of  crime,  by  the  newspaper  press,  is  a most 
fruitful  source  of  evil.  It  imposes  no  salutary  restraint 
on  those  who  are  already  shameless  and  abandoned  ; but 
the  young  mind  and  heart  are  constantly  darkened  and 
depraved  by  perusing  the  frightful  catalogue.  Indeed,  the 
community  is  thus  constantly  corrupted  by  a practice  wliicli 
tlie  calm  judgment  and  enlightened  conscience  must  con- 
demn. It  is  very  questionable  whether  the  ends  of  justice 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


149 


are  in  any  way  promoted  by  publisliing  all  criminal  trans- 
actions, since  the  perpetrators  are  thus  admonished  to  keep 
out  of  the  way  of  the  ministers  of  law.  In  this  respect  we 
can  conceive  of  no  adequate  compensation  for  the  manifold 
evils  consequent  on  the  course  and  conduct  of  the  secular 
press.  The  conservation  of  the  peace  and  safety  of  society 
Avill  scarcely  be  accomplished  by  such  means.  On  the  con- 
trary, a common  benefit  would  be  conferred  could  the  con- 
fessions and  convictions  under  the  criminal  code  be  confined 
to  the  courts.  For  this  reason  we  would  seal  up  the  annals 
of  crime,  and  shut  out  from  the  rising  generation  the  scenes 
that  darken  and  defile  the  young  mind  and  heart.  Hew 
down  the  gallows,  and  wash  the  bloody  stains  from  the 
magisterial  ermine  and  the  priestly  robe  ! Let  the  record  ] 
of  the  law  perish,  and  the  memory  of  the  execution  and  its' 
infernal  engine  be  blotted  out  forever! 

Kant  observes  that  the  pleasure  inspired  by  the  elements 
of  beauty  does  not  depend  on  any  idea  of  utility  ; and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  our  modern  utilitarians  insist  that  it  is 
a useless  possession.  But  the  simple  fact  that  the  pleasure 
derived  from  this  source  does  .not  arise  from  any  associa- 
tion with  the  idea  of  material  uses,  sufficiently  indicates  its 
unselfish  and  spiritual  nature.  It  is  only  because  the  ele- 
ments of  essential  beauty  can  not  be  coined  into  dimes,  ex-  - 
changed  for  merchandise,  or  otherwise  made  subservient  to 
the  corporeal  appetites,  that  they  are  thus  lightly  esteemed. 
The  vulgar  conception  of  utility  is  the  offspring  of  the 
grossest  materialism.  Those  who  still  cherish  it  are  unim- 
aginative and  sensuous  mortals,  who  would  either  buy  or 
sell  the  Elysian  Fields  for  a cotton  plantation  I Tliey  would 


150 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


recommend  the  Muses  to  learn  and  teach  agriculture.  If 
an  i^^ngel  should  visit  them,  they  would  expect  him  to  re- 
port the  state  of  the  stock  market  on  the  other  side  and 
they  are  prone  to  prize  Heaven  chiefly  as  an  office  of  in- 
surance against  destruction  by  fire  ! 0,  ye  sensible  and 

practical  men,  who  never  waste  your  time  in  dreaming — 
who  never  make  an  investment  where  it  does  not  pay — is 
there  no  god  but  gold  ? Can  no  power  break  through 
the  concretion  of  sensuality  that  covers  your  souls?  And 
is  there  nothing  in  Beauty  and  Divinity  to  divert  your  at- 
tention from  the  world,  ye  whose  god  is  Mammon,  and 
whose  treasures  are  laid  up  in  deep  vaults  and  iron  safes  ? 

In  this  commercial  age  we  are  not  likely  to  over-estimate 
the  Fine  Arts  as  instrumentalities  of  individual  development 
and  general  progress.  We  should  rejoice  to  witness  any- 
thing like  a proper  appreciation  of  their  silent  ministry  and 
irresistible  power  on  the  mind  and  the  life  of  a people. 
Show  us  a tribe  that  has  no  love  of  beauty,  or  a country 
destitute  of  Art,  and  we  need  look  no  further  for  a barba- 
rous people  and  scenes  of  disgusting  brutality.  Coarseness, 
(Vulgarity  and  crime,  are  even  more  frequently  associated 
with  the  rites  of  Religion  than  with  the  ideal  conceptions 
and  artistic  creations  of  essential  Loveliness.  It  is  a sig- 
nificant fact  that  the  religious  sentiment  may  coexist  with  a 
depraved  moral  sense,  and  is  often  strongly  manifested 
by  persons  of  perverted  passions  and  an  abandoned  life. 
At  the  same  time  the  elegant  Arts  not  only  contribute  to 
subdue  the  savage  nature,  to  promote  civilization  and  a 
higher  mental  culture,  but  tliey  also  help  us  to  recognize  the 
Divinity  whose  presence  is  veiled  in  every  form  of  Beauty. 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


151 


The  uncultivated  mind  has  no  power  to  recognize  essen* 
tial  principles  and  abstract  ideas.  Hence  the  multitudes  re- 
quire some  sensuous  image  or  representation  of  whatever  is 
to  be  apprehended,  admired  or  worshiped.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  realizing  the  necessity  of  its  disciples, 
annually  circulates  millions  of  prints  and  plaster  casts,  rep- 
resenting the  most  touching  and  impressive  scenes  in  the 
lives  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  Everything  that  reminds 
the  disciple  of  his  Master  has  a sacred  significance,  and  the 
memorials  of  imprisoned  and  martyred  saints  at  once  in- 
spire his  reverence  and  soften  his  heart.  Every  Catholic 
has  a picture  of  the  Virgin,  or  wears  the  cross  as  the  expres- 
sive symbol  of  fidelity  and  ^patient  suffering,  and  the  assu- 
rance of  his  salvation.  The  reader  may  not  require  such 
material  emblems  of  moral  truths  and  spiritual  realities. 
It  is  the  province  of  the  highly  developed  mind  to  dispense 
with  the  shadows  of  its  thoughts,  and  to  lay  aside  the  perish- 
able symbols  of  its  faith  and  worship,  while  it  reverently 
walks  into  the  very  Pantheon  of  the  gods. 

But  the  time  has  not  come  when  even  the  more  enlight- 
ened classes  can  profitably  part  with  the  physical  forms  of 
the  objects  of  their  affection  and  adoration.  The  worshiper 
still  claims  the  symbols  of  his  religion,  and  the  lover  sighs  for 
something  tangible  to  embrace.  Perhaps  we  all  prefer — at 
least  in  some  qualified  sense — to  find  and  to  grasp  the  sub- 
stance in  tlie  sJiadoiv.  There  is  a kind  of  universal  lan- 
guage in  Painting  as  in  Music  ; and  no  oral  speech  can 
better  portray  the  delicate  shades  of  feeling,  or  give  to  the 
stormy  passions  a more  forcible  expression.  Pictures  are 
mute  but  eloquent  teachers.  Forms,  apparently  instinct 


152 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


with  life,  passion,  and  sentiment,  seem  to  start  out  from  the 
silent  walls  of  our  dwellings,  or  they  gaze  at  us  tlirough  the 
dim  light  of  ancient  galleries  and  deserted  mansions.  Each 
is  the  embodiment  of  an  idea,  rendered  more  captivating 
and  impressive  by  the  manner  of  its  expression.  We  re- 
cognize Painting,  Sculpture  and  Music  as  the  graces  whose 
triple  influence  surrounds  the  impersonal  presence  of  Beauty  ; 
and  we  find  in  their  purest  creations  the  distant  but  radiant 
images  of  the  Divine  Perfection.  Their  ministry  softens  the 
ruder  features  and  aspects  of  this  world  ; it  restrains  and 
spiritualizes  the  passions;  it  inspires  purer  impulses  and 
nobler  motives,  and  elevates  the  world's  common,  thought 
and  practical  life. 

There  is  a tradition  that  when  the  Goths  were  masters 
of  Athens  they  preserved  the  public  Libraries,  because  they 
•were  presumed  to  “ contribute  to  the  effeminacy  of  the  citi- 
zens.” Had  those  barbarous  tribes  been  refined  and  en- 
nobled by  the  contemplation  of  the  more  perfect  creations  of 
Genius,  they  would  certainly  have  spared  the  great  monu- 
ments of  Art  when  they  overran  Italy  in  the  fifth  century. 
It  was  a false  religious  idea  tliat  kindled  the  fiery  zeal  and 
nerved  the  strong  arms  of  those  ruthless  iconoclasts.  They 
led  a life  of  warlike  adventure,  and  even  coveted  death  on 
the  bloody  field  that  they  might  be  lionored  with  the  society 
of  heroes  in  the  great  palace  and  the  presence  of  Odin. 
With  such  religious  conceptions  they  did  not  hesitate  to  de- 
molish the  civil  institutions  of  the  Koman  Empire,  and  to 
bury  Literature  and  the  Arts  in  a common  grave.  But  the 
languages  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  Avere  immortal  ; and 
those  who  brought  out  from  their  national  sepulchres — after 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


153 


the  lapse  of  centuries — the  splendid  remains  of  Grecian  and 
Roman  art,  revived  the  love  of  Beauty,  and  awakened  the 
slumbering  spirit  that  subsequently  gave  birth  to  Michael 
Angelo,  Raphael,  Correggio  and  Titian,  and  that  still  in- 
spires the  living  masters  and  the  true  lovers  of  Art  in  every 
part  of  the  civilized  world. 

Outward  objects  are  often  suggestive  of  spiritual  ideas. 
Our  first  and  our  deepest  religious  impressions  are  inspired 
by  the  grand  and  beautiful  forms  and  phenomena  of  Nature. 
Nor  is  this  inspiration  less  divine  because  an  observation  of 
natural  scenes  and  objects  affords  the  occasion.  The  an- 
cient revelators  were  perhaps  most  frequently  and  highly 
inspired  ^when  engaged  in  such  reflections.  The  Hebrew 
Poet  was  both  humbled  and  exalted  by  the  grandeur  of  the 
Universe,  In  the  midst  of  his  sublime  contemplation,  he 
exclaimed,  “ When  I consider  the  heavens,  the  work  of  thy 
fingers,  the  moon  and  stars  which  thou  hast  ordained.  Lord, 
what  is  man  V'  And  considering  “ the  lilies  of  the  field,” 
Jesus  declared  with  emphasis,  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
was  not  arrayed  like  these.  Indeed,  Nature  is  never  want- 
ing in  religious  suggestions  to  the  enlightened  and  reverent 
soul.  Thus  the  earth  and  sea — the  transparent  ether— the 
shining  worlds,  that  sentinel  the  heaven  of  heavens — aU  great 
and  solemn  and  sublime — naturally  dispose  the  mind  to  de- 
vout meditations. 

'^Nature  is  a most  eloquent  preacher,  and  he  is  cold  at 
heart  who  does  not  realize  the  divinity  of  her  ministry. 
Those  whom  the  world  has  not  corrupted  are  never  insen- 
sible ; and  in  childhood,  especially,  we  feel  her  power. 
When  Morning  like  a chaste  virgin  goes  forth  in  robes  of 


154 


MAX  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


light  to  walk  on  tlie  tops  of  the  mountains,  the  soul  of 
Youth  follows  her  like  a spirit  of  prayer.  Spring  comes  and 
breaths  above  the  graves  of  the  sleeping  germs  ; they  spring- 
up  and  blossom ; and  their  resurrection  to  more  abundant 
life,  is  an  assurance  that  being  and  beauty  are  immortal. 
The  rose  that  blooms  by  the  cottage  door  blushes  when  it  is 
kissed  by  the  sun-beams,  and  loving  inspirations  kindle  in 
the  mind  and  warm  the  heart.  And  when  the  skylark  sings 
in  the  morning,  at  the  windows  of  heaven,  his  song  is  a 
sweet  suggestion,  that  Nature  is  full  of  music,  and  that  the 
objects  and  aims  of  life  should  be  above  all  groveling  and 
earthly  things.  It  is  with  a feeling  of  profound  adoration 
that  we  gaze  at  the  -stars  ; and  if  we  meditate  by  the  sea, 
where  the  winds  and  waves  discourse  of  the  Supreme  Ma- 
jesty, we  hear  divine  voices  in  the  unrestrained  elements  ; 
and  solemn  reverberations,  swelling 

“ Over  each  isle  and  continent  and  sea, 

Waking,  enrapturing  earth’s  down-trodden  nations, 

With  God  the  Father’s  great  command — Be  Fkee  !” 

If  the  foregoing  illustrations  present  at  best  but  a feeble 
expression  of  an  intense  conviction,  it  is  because  language 
furnishes  only  a narrow  and  clumsy  vehicle  wlierein  Truth 
rides  with  difficulty.  However,  the  influence  of  physical 
objects  and  earthly  scenes  in  the  development  of  the  human 
mind  and  the  formation  of  character,  must  be  so  obvious 
as  to  render  further  elucidation  unnecessary.  That  men  are 
transformed  into  the  moral  and  material  likeness  of  the 
forms  they  observe,  the  natures  they  contemplate,  and  the 
ideal  conceptions  they  entertain  and  cherish,  will  scarcely 
be  denied  j and  we  may,  therefore,  dismiss  this  part  of  the 


INFLUENCE  OF  OBJECTS  AND  IDEAS. 


155 


subject  with  a single  additional  illustration.  I find  the  sug- 
gestion in  a little  poem  entitled,  “ Robin  Gray.^’^ 

“ He  dreamed  that  the  angel  Gabriel  came 
And  stood  by  his  cottage  door, 

And  a wondrous  light  from  his  raiment  fell, 

And  shone  on  the  sanded  floor.” 

Robin  gazed  at  the  celestial  visitor  with  deep  amazement 
and  silent  admiration  ; and  when  the  vision  departed — and 
while  the  illuminated  shadow  yet  lingered  in  his  soul — he 
felt  an  intense  desire  to  preserve  the  image  of  that  divine 
personality.  Inspired  with  the  thought,  he  commenced  to 
mold  the  form  of  the  Angel  in  marble.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing he  went  to  his  task  and  toiled  until,  the  evening  shades 
appeared.  Thus  he  labored,  day  after  day  ; and  ever  and 
anon  the  Angel  came  and  stood  by  him  in  visions  of  the 
night  to  revive  the  waning  impression. 

But  Robin  grew  thin  and  pale,  and  a strange  light — like 
the  mysterious  glory  of  transfiguration — shone  out  through 
the  sweet  solemnity  of  his  countenance.  The  vigor  of  his 
arm  was  impaired  day  by  day,  and  yet  the  marble  remained 
rough  and  cold  in  his  hands.  The  divine  form  did  not  ap- 
pear in  the  stone ; 

“ But  the  Augel  within  his  breast  each  day, 

More  luminous  grew  and  bright.” 

One  morning  avi  early  visitor  found  Robin  prostrate  on  the 
floor  of  his  little  cell.  He  was  pale,  passionless,  and  pulse- 
less as  the  marble  that,  even  in  death,  he  still  grasped  with 
the  energy  of  a living  purpose.  The  materialist  gazed  on 
the  scene  and  he  said,  alas,  it  is  a failure  ! He  lived  for 


I . onti’ibuted  to  ihe  Sli^kinah  by  Mrs.  S.  S.  > i,;  h. 


156 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


a single  purpose  to  which  he  consecrated  life  and  all  his 
powers  ; but  tliis  is  the  end  of  life,  and  his  work  is  unfin- 
ished! Nay  ! not  so  in  the  poet’s  vision,  nor  in  fact.  That 
teas  not  the  end  of  life.  In  one  corner  of  that  little  cell — 
invisible  to  mortal  eyes — stood  Robin  Gray,  clad  in  the 
robes  of  a great  immortality  ; and  stamped  on  every  linea- 
ment— with  such  vivid  distinctness  as  face  answers  to  face 
in  the  untroubled  waters — was  the  image  of  tlie  Angel. 

If  we  may  accept  the  poetic  idea,  that  a beautiful  statue 
is  concealed  in  every  block  of  marble  whicli  may  be  discov- 
ered by  the  skill  of  the  sculptor,  we  may  at  least  entertain 
the  thought  that  an  Angel  reposes  in  the  rufiest  hoBCian  form, 
which  some  skillful  moral  artist  may  awa|ken  an^  exhibit 
en  alto  relievo.  In  this  work  no  one  can  labor  sinceii'ely  and 
yet  labor  in  vain.  It  is  true  our  objects!  may  b^  misin- 
terpreted or  disregarded  by  others ; and  'after  long  for- 
bearance, earnest  effort,  and  patient  sufiferiing,  we  may  not 
develop  the  Angel  where  we  waited  and  watched  fo^  its  ad- 
vent, But  the  failure,  at  most,  can  only  be  iipparent! ; since 
every  such  effort  must  serve  to  mold  our  o\^n  natures  into 
the  likeness  of  the  grand  Ideal  that  stands  jrevealed  in  the 
temple  of  the  soul.  A Christian  Apostle  recognized  tl^is  prin- 
ciple when  he  would  have  formed  in  the  disqiple,  ‘\tlie  hope 
of  glory,”  in  the  image  of  the  Divine  Man,  '^If,  then,  our 
attempts  to  develop  in  others  the  celestial  form  and  : life  on 
earth ’are  not  crowned  with  visible  results,  we  may  ,3mt  be 
accounted  worthy  of  a sublime  success.  WliBii  the  vpil  that 
obscures  the  moral  vision  is  removed,  and  wp  stand  at  last 
in  the  clear  light  of  the  great  Hereafter,  alliwill  be  well  if 
we  shall  have  fashioned  the  Angel  wiTiiiN.^ 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

KELATIONS  OP  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

General  Observations — The  Fine  Arts  and  Civilization — The  Magic  Isles — 
Influence  of  Ancient  Greece  on  Modern  Ideas — Value  of  Personal  Beauty 
— The  Author’s  Analysis — Prevalence  of  false  Views — Reference  to  Head- 
ley’s  Letters  from  Italy — The  Conceptions  of  French  and  Italian  Ladies — 
Influence  of  the  Mind  on  the  Muscles— The  History  on  the  Wall — Expres- 
sion as  an  element  of  Beauty — Creations  of  Ludovico  Caracci,  the  Cyclops 
of  Timanthes  and  the  Cartoons  of  Raphael — Illustrations  from  practical 
Life — Desolating  pawer  of  the  Passions — Glory  of  a great  Character. 

“ Wny  tinge  the  cheek  of  youth  ! The  snow^'  neck 
Why  load  with  jewels?  V/hy  anoint  the  hair? 

Oh,  mortal,  scorn  such  ^rts  ! but  richly  deck 
Thy  soul  with  virtues.” — Greek  P<  et. 

OUTWAItD  Beauty  is  the  sensuous  image  of  a spiritual 
and  divine  Reality — the  visible,  though  imperfect,  expres- 
sion of  the  invisible  and  absolute  Perfection.  The  mind 
that  is  liberally  endowed  by  Nature,  and  refined  by  culture 
and  the  contemplation  of  the  most  perfect  ideals,  is  never 
insensible*  of  the  presence  and  the  power  of  Beauty.  Indeed, 
the  inability  to  perceive  this  supreme  excellence  implies 
a radical  defect  in  human  nature,  that  is  wholly  incompat- 
ible with  the  highest  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  at- 
tainments. The  love  of  Beauty  adorns  the  eai-th  Avith  innu- 
merable creations  to  delight  the  senses  and  the  soul.  It 
plants  the  myrtle  and  the  rose  in  the  wilderness  ; it  makes 
the  barren  moors  and  desert  solitudes  blossom  ; it  cultivates 
Oriental  gardens,  and  rears  splendid  temples  and  palaces  ; 


158 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


it  inspired  tiie  great  masters  of  Grecian  Art,  and  they  left 
their  carved  memorials  and  pictured  thoughts  in  the  world^s 
Pantheon  to  awaken  the  esthetic  sense  in  the  barbaric  mind  ; 
to  refine  the  taste  of  every  succeeding  age,  and  to  redeem 
the  common  life  of  the  world  from  its  grossness  and  sensual- 
ity. The  truly  spiritual  mind — gifted  with  an  acute  percep- 
tion of  beauty- — surveys  the  immortal  images  on  the  canvas 
and  the  shadows  cast  in  marble,  and  finds  in  them  a revela- 
tion of  the  hidden,  spiritual  and  divine  excellence.  From 
the  invisible  Perfection  the  great  artist  derives  his  inspira- 
tion, and  to  that  unseen  Reality  his  aspirations  constantly 
ascend.  Nor  is  the  attempt  to  realize  his  prayer,  in  the 
embodiment  of  his  Idea  ever  in  vain ; for  he  is  a common 
benefactor  who  invests  the  world  with  new  attractions. 

The  love  of  Beauty  is  the  worship  of  God.  Nature  and 
Art  — every  fair  and  glorious  creation  of  earth  and  sea 
and  sky — the  human  form  and  face  divine,  instinct  with 
life,  passion  and  sentiment,  or  smiling  in  marble  or  on  tlie 
canvas — have  all  a sacred  ministry — to  inspire  a love  of 
the  Perfect  and  to  fashion  a Divine  Ideal  in  the  conscious 
soul.  Thus  all  beautiful  things  exert  a redeeming  influence 
on  Man.  They  refine  the  passions  of  our  common  nature, 
wliile  they  lift  us  above  the  deformities  of  this  present 
world.  All  Nature  is  the  revelation  of  a Spiritual  Presence 
in  material  forms,  and  the  clearest  elucidation  of  tlie  Divine 
perfections.  There  are  enchanting  melodies,  eloquent  ser- 
mons, sublime  philosophies,  great  poems,  and  a Gospel  of  re- 
deeming power — all  embodied  in  the  forms  of  the  outward 
world.  These  are  expressive  symbols  of  the  everlasting 
Life  and  Thought.  There  are  also  sweet  lessons  on  the 


RELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 


159 


cheek  of  innocence,  in  the  bosom  of  love  and  in  the  eye  of 
genius,  that  we  should  learn  and  cherish.  We  can  never 
study  them  in  vain,  nor  can  it  be  irreverent  to  imitate  them, 
as  far  as  we  are  able,  for  thus  we  approach  the  radiant  foot- 
prints of  the  Divine  Artist,  ‘ who  made  everything  beautiful 
in  his  time.' 

The  influence  of  the  Fine  Arts  on  our  civilization  and 
the  relations  of  all  the  forms  of  Beauty  to  the  intellectual 
development  and  moral  elevation  of  the  people,  have  seldom 
been  wisely  estimated.  It  is  quite  certain  that  we  are 
indebted — in  no  small  degree— to  ancient  Greece  for  an 
acquaintance  with  the  sources  of  Beauty,  and  for  some  of 
the  means  of  modern  growth  and  refinement.  Those  magic 
Isles — 

“ Where  burning  Sappho  wept  and  sung,” 

were  consecrated  to  all  that  was  most  beautiful  in  Art.  It 
was  in  that  charmed  region  that  letters  were  invented  ; 
there  the  strings  of  the  lyre  first  vibrated  to  harmonic 
numbers  ; there  Homer  sang  his  immortal  song  ; there  lived 
Solon  and  Lycurgus,  and  the  fathers  of  theatrical  tragedy. 
A popular  author  has  denominated  the  Grecian  architec- 
ture an  “artistic  revelation,’’  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
its  sculptured  forms,  which  have  never  been  excelled. 
While  the  philosophers  and  law-givers  of  ancient  Greece 
doubtless  continue  to  exert  a wide  influence  in  molding  the 
Theology  and  the  Legislation  of  all  modern  Christendom,  it 
is  certain  that  her  inspired  masters  in  eveiw  department  of 
the  Elegant  Arts  have  for  centuries  contributed  to  foster  a 
love  of  the  Beautiful,  and  human  nature  has  been  refined 
and  exalted.  The  noblest  forms  of  Art  have  perhaps  done 


160 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


more  to  redeem  the  world  from  savagism,  than  all  the  reli- 
gions on  the  face  of  the  earth,  Christianity  alone  excepted. 
It  would  be  a moral  impossibility  for  a man  to  look  at  the 
Graces  every  day  for  one  year  and  remain  an  awkward 
clown ; nor  would  even  a Barbarian  think  of  offering  human 
sacrifices  to  Venus  or  Apollo. 

We  have  defined  Beauty  to  be,  in  the  most  comprehen- 
sive sense,  the  light  and  glory  of  the  Divinity  shining 
tiirough  the  material  forms  of  the  World.  With  such  a defi- 
nition, even  'personal  heaid'y — of  the  sources  of  which  I am 
now  to  treat — is  by  no  means  to  be  lightly  esteemed.^  It 
certainly  inspires  pleasurable  sensations  in  every  beholder, 
and  cannot,  therefore,  be  a worthless  treasure  in  the  estima- 
tion of  others.  It  unbars  our  doors  to  the  stranger,  and 
gives  him  a passport  to  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-men, 
and  hence  can  never  be  useless  to  its  possessor.  We  all 
, /naturally  associate  the  peculiarities  of  foimi,  feature  and 
expression,  with  certain  mental  and  moral  characteristics  ; 
and  we  seldom  or  never  find  the  man — in  his  essential  char- 
acter— unlike  the  image  he  presents  to  the  world.  A 
careful  personal  inspection  for  lialf  an  liour  may  reverse  the 
judgment  founded  on  the  most  important  testimony.  It 
will  be  found  that  even  those  who  profess  to  disregard 
^ personal  appearances,  generally  form  their  own  estimate  of 
' the  individual’s  mind  and  character  from  what  they  observe 
in  his  exterior ; nor  are  the  greatest  and  most  discerning 

i Socrates  called  Beauty  a short-lived  tyranny  ; but  Plato  viewed  it  as  a 
privilege  of  Nature.  Theophrastus  said  it  was  a silent  cheat,  whilst  Aris- 
totle affirmed  that  it  was  better  than  all  the  recommendations  in  the  world. 
Homer  regarded  it  as  a glorious  natural  gift,  and  Ovid  esteemed  it  as  a 
favor  bestowed  by  the  gods. 


/ llELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  PERSOXAL  BEAUTY.  161 

minds  frequent  exeeptions  to  tlie  rule.  The  great  dra- 
matic Poet  lias  said,  respecting  a beautiful  human  form, 

“ There’s  nothing  ill  can  dwell  in  such  a temple.” 

And  all  admit  that  he  was  a profound  interpreter  of  human 
nature.  True,  we  may  misinterpret  the  signs  of  character  ; 
but  we  can  scarcely  overlook  them.  They  are  too  con- 
spicuous to  be  readily  concealed,  and  withal  too  deep  and 
lasting  to  be  obliterated  even  by  “ Time’s  effacing  fingers.” 
When  the  essential  elements  of  beauty  are  harmoniously 
blended,  in  one  who  is  thus  divinely  commissioned  to  sway  a 
scepter  over  the  realm  of  the  affections,  the  attributes  of  the 
celestial  life  are  tangibly  revealed  on  earth.  Milton  thus 
sings  of  such  a being  : 

“ Grace  was  in  all  her  steps,  heaven  in  her  eyes, 

In  every  gesture  dignity  and  love.” 

The  elements  of  personal  beauty  are  chiefly  comprehended 
in  symmetry  of  form  and  feature,  in  an  agreeable  associa- 
tion and  blending  of  colors,  in  mingled  softness,  vivacity 
and  force  of  expression,  and  in  the  grace  and  “ poetry  of 
motion.”  ^It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  those  who  attach 
the  highest  value  to  personal  attractions,  often  make  the 
most  fatal  mistakes  in  their  attempts  to  secure  the  coveted 
boon.  In  this  country,  especially,  thousands  vainly  at- 
tempt to  make  up  for  their  natural  defects  of  form  by  the 
most  ludicrous  efforts  to  conceal  them,  rather  than  com 
mence  and  pursue  such  a course  of  physical  exercise  and  dis 
cipline  as  must  inevitably  give  elasticity  and  vigor  to  the 
different  members,  and  rotundity  to  the  whole  body'.  In- 
stead of  directing  the  latent  energies  of  Nature  to  the  full 


162 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


accomplishment  of  her  appropriate  work,  too  many  employ 
the  costumer  to  make  up  the  form  agreeably  to  the  latest 
decrees  of  imperial  Fashion.  They  trouble  themselves  to 
restrain  and  fetter  their  own  natural  powers,  and  then 
make  great  sacrifices  to  patch  up  their  imperfections.  Such 
persons — while  they  live  and  when  they  die — are  but  poor 
effigies  of  human  nature,  which  the  sage  and  the  savage 
alike  must  regard  with  pity  or  derision.  ^ 

/ The  same  miserable  infatuation  is  exhibited  in  the  at 
tempts  to  produce  and  to  preserve  the  particular  combina- 
tions of  color  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  personal  beauty. 
Fair  ladies  pass  their  days  in  listless  inactivity,  in  darkened 
parlors,  without  the  inspiration  of  the  free  air,  and  away 
from  the  purple  glories  and  the  golden  rays  of  the  morning. 
Their  nights  are  spent  at  the  rout,  and  in  crowded  banquet- 
ting  halls,  until  from  the  loss  of  natural  repose  at  proper 
seasons,  the  intoxication  of  unnatural  excitements,  untimely 
and  immoderate  gratification  of  the  appetites,  the  nervous 
system  is  unstrung,  the  digestion  impaired,  the  skin  becomes 

1 In  form  the  Italians  excel  us.  Larger,  fuller — they  naturally  aquire  a 
fi-uer  gait  aod  bearing.  It  is  astonishing  that  our  ladies  should  persist  in 
that  ridiculous  notion,  that  a small  waist  is,  and,  ex  necessitate,  must  be,  beau- 
tiful. Why,  many  an  Italian  woman  would  cry  for  vexation,  if  she  pos- 
sessed such  a waist  as  some  of  our  ladies  acquire  only  by  a long  and  painful 
process.  I have  sought  the  reason  of  this  difference,  and  can  see  no  other 
than  that  the  Italians  have  their  glorious  statuary  continually  before  them 
as  models  5 and  hence  endeavor  to  assimilate  themselves  to  them  ; whereas 
our  fashionables  have  no  models  except  those  French  stuffed  figures  in  th-> 
windows  of  the  milliners’  shops.  If  an  artist  should  presume  to  make  a 
statue  with  the  shape  that  seems  to  be  regarded  with  us  as  the  perfectiou  of 
harmonious  proportion,  he  would  be  laughed  out  of  the  city.  It  is  a stand 
ing  objection  against  the  taste  of  our  women,  the  world  over,  that  they  prac- 
tically assert  that  a French  dressmaker  understands  how  they  should  bo  mado 
better  than  Nature  herself. — Headley's  Letters  from  Italy. 


RELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY.  l()o 

sallow,  and  the  roses  on  the  clieek  wither  in  the  night  air 
or  fade  in  the  glare  of  the  gas  lights.  When  the  weak 
votary  of  pleasure  has  thus  sacrificed  her  personal  charms, 
she  vainly  attempts  to  supply  the  lost  tre^isure  by  the  use  of 
powder,  rouge,  and  a species  of  enamel  that  closes  the  pores 
and  suspends  the  functions  of  the  skin.  The  same  superfi- 
cial arts  are  employed  alike  in  the  palace-chamber  and  in 
the  bordello.  For  a proud  lady  who  values  her  beauty, 
thus  to  destroy  all  the  freshness  of  spring,  and  extinguish 
the  ruddy  glow  of  the  morning  which  once  shone  in  her 
countenance,  is  lamentable  enough  ; but  when  she  ti*ans- 
forms  her  delicate  frame  into  a portrait  pcdnter^s  easel,  and 
makes  of  her  fair  cheek  a mere  pallet  for  a very  poor 
amateur,  she  presents  for  our  contemplation  one  of  the  most 
ridiculous  illustrations  of  human  weakness  and  folly. 

“ Lo,  with  what  vermil  tints  the  apple  blooms  1 
Say,  doth  the  rose  the  painter’s  hand  require  ?'y 

We  liave  often  been  surprised  that  persons  of  large  means 
expend  so  much  for  wardrobes,  which  are  neither  elegant 
nor  convenient ; for  carved  furniture  and  costly  equipage  ; 
for  jewels  and  other  personal  ornaments.  It  is  a vulgar  taste 
that  is  fed  and  satisfied  with  such  an  exhibition  of  elaborate 
trifles,  and  the  useless  attentions  of  a long  retinue  in  gilded 
lixeries.  The  esthetic  sense  is  scarcely  awakened  in  persons 
of  this  description.  The  more  cultivated  mind  requires 
higher  forms  of  Art  and  types  of  Beauty.  It  is  the  peculiar 
province  of  the  Poet  and  Musician,  the  Painter  and  the 
Sculptor,  to  minister  to  those  who  find  in  their  purest  crea- 
tions the  distant  but  radiant  images  of  the  absolute  Perfec- 
tion. Such  souls  need  no  gilded  accessories.  Whilst  they 


164 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


yet  walk  on  earth,  they  wear  crowns  of  light  and  the  robes 
of  a great  Immortality. 

The  free  and  harmonious  exercise  of  the  human  faculties 
and  affections  is  indispensable  to  a complete  and  symmetri- 
cal development  of  the  body.  Moreover,  it  has  been  ren- 
dered evident,  by  other  portions  of  this  treatise,  that  mental 
and  moral  harmony  are  productive  of  physical  health.  Thus 
the  mind — when  rightly  exercised — by  producing  a normal 
condition  and  action  of  the  whole  system,  may  illuminate 
the  deep  azure  of  the  eye,  and  cause  the  rose  and  the  lily  to 
bloom  together  on  the  cheek  and  the  brow.  Expression — 
wliich  is  but  the  action  of  passion,  thought  and  sentiment,  on 
the  muscles  of  the  face — of  course  depends  on  the  states  and 
exercises  of  the  mind  ; and — to  use  the  expressive  words  of 
another — “ grace  doth  take  therefrom  its  own  existence.’’ 
Thus  the  ciiief  sources  of  personal  beauty  are  perceived  to 
be  within,  and  the  outward  form,  features,  expression  and 
action,  must  generally  constitute  a reliable  index  to  the 
mind,  the  heart  and  the  life. 

Tlie  power  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  and  the  influence 
of  sensation  and  thought  in  forming  the  features,  and  deter- 
mining their  expression,  is  worthy  of  careful  observation. 
So  completely  and  indelibly  does  tlie  mind  stamp  its  image 
on  the  form,  that  in  every  lineament  of  tlie  face  we  may 
trace  the  revelation  of  some  moral  attribute  or  mental  pos- 
session. The  spirit  of  kindness  wreathes  the  countenance 
with  smiles  Hatred  can  never  conceal  its  ugly  visage 
behind  a wall  of  flesh,  but  hangs  it  out  for  the  world’s  in- 
S})ection  and  instruction.  While  the  man — shut  up  in  liis 
earthly  dwelling — vainly  imagines  that  his  real  charactci*  is 


RELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 


1G5 


unknown,  and  will  remain  concealed  until  bis  mortal  habi- 
tation is  destroyed,  he  is  unconsciously  tracing  his  secret 
history  on  the  outer  walls  of  his  house,  where  it  may  be  read 
by  all  men.  Tlie  eyes,  especially,  are  the  windows  of  the 
mortal  tenement,  through  which  we  perceive  the  disposition 
of  the  occupant,  and  tlie  character  of  the  guests  he  is  wont  to 
entertain.  The  predominant  idea,  ruling  passion,  and  gov- 
erning sentiment  of  the  individual  are  usually  made  mani- 
fest, even  to  the  careless  observer  Some  nerve  vibrates, 
at  the  gentlest  touch  of  a thought,  or  trembles  beneath  the) 
tread  of  fairy-footed  sunbeams,  as  they  come  up  from  all  they 
forms  of  the  world  to  track  the  mystic  halls  of  vision. 

“ Some  chord  ia  unison  with  what  we  hear 
Is  touched  within  us,  and  the  soul  replies!” 

And  thus  all  the  senses  present  avenues  through  which 
Nature — by  her  outward  forms  and  physical  phenomena — 
ap{)eals  to  the  conscious  soul.  From  day  to  day  the  spirit 
leaves  a visible  and  impressive  transcript  of  its  history  in 
the  yielding  clay.  Thoughts  have  an  influence  over  the 
nerves  of  motion,  and  our  secret  emotions  are  incarnated  in 
our  muscles.  Thus  the  contracted,  selfish,  and  bigoted  man 
presents  you  with  a diagram  of  his  lean,  dejected  soul  in  the  , 
acute  angles  of  his  visage.  The  poor  miser  wh'o  unly  lives 
to  grasp  yet  more  firmly  what  he  has,  and  tif  possible,)  ivliat 
he  has  not,  will  be  quite  likely  to  form  his  face  after  the 
fashion  of  a steel  trap  ; while  in  the  curved  lines  that  arch  - 
the  expanded  brow,  and  in  the  frank,  generous  and  joyful 
expression,  we  recognize  the  genuine  certificate  of  Nature, . 
bearing  the  seal  of  Divinity, 

Many  faces  present  to  the  critical  reader  of  character,  a 


166 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


terrible  record  of  the  exercise  of  perverted  faculties ; of 
golden  hours  and  opportunities  squandered  in  indolence  and 
dissipation  ; of  the  indulgence  of  secret  and  wasting  vices  ; 
of  bright  hopes  blasted  in  the  morning  of  life,  and  eloquent 
promises  of  future  usefulness,  already  forgotten  and  never 
to  be  redeemed.  Oh,  who  would  become  the  author  of  such 
a history  ! Who  would  thus  illustrate  his  life  and  times  by 
frequent  exhibitions  of  depraved  and  ungovernable  passion, 
and  the  deep  furrows  which  lust  and  crime  leave  on  the 
darkened  visage  ! Alas,  how  many,  with  bright  skies  above 
them,  begin  life  with  clean  hands,  pure  hearts,  and  good  res- 
olutions, and  yet  seemingly  live  but  to  cherish  the  unwel- 
come thought,  that  the  world  is  faithless  and  life  is  vain  ! 
And  yet  the  world — in  an  important  sense — is  precisely 
what  we  are  pleased  to  have  it.  Only  those  who  make 
grave  mistakes  in  life,  find  the  green  earth  desolate  and  the 
moral  heavens  darkened  at  mid-day.  When  the  brand  of 
conscious  wrong  is  not  on  the  brow,  we  walk  erect  and  look 
the  world  in  the  face  ; when  the  fair  cheek  is  unsullied  by  a 
blush  of  shame,  Hope  hangs  her  bow  of  promise  over 
against  every  storm  of  life.  When  our  moral  atmosphere 
is  unclouded,  we  see  clearly  tliat  this  world  is  a living 
revelation  of  Beauty,  basking  forever  in  tlie  liglit  of  tlie 
Divine  love,  and  inspired  with  conscious  and  perpetual  joyJ 
It  is  especially  in  expression  that  the  mind  exhibits  the 
most  direct,  manifest,  and  masterly  power  over  the  nervous 
and  muscular  systems  ; and  here,  also,  it  doubtless  contri- 
butes most  essentially  to  personal  beauty.  No  face  can  be 
said  to  be  really  beautiful  that  is  devoid  of  expression, 
while  the  features  are  often  redeemed  from  their  obvious 


HELATIOXS  OF  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 


167 


irregularities  by  combined  delicacy  and  force  of  expression. 
A face  in  which  every  thought  reveals  its  image — wherein 
the  sentiments  and  passions  appear  as  if  endowed  with  per- 
sonality and  reflected  in  a mirror — becomes  a living  and 
moving  picture,  which  is  mysteriously  changed  by  every 
wave  of  feeling,  as  well  by  the  soft,  gentle  and  compassion- 
ate emotions  of  the  loving  heart,  as  by  the  stern,  aggresive 
and  terrific  passions  of  the  enraged  avenger.  Those  who 
would  realize  how  much  may  be  revealed  by  the  silent  lan- 
guage of  the  passions,  as  exhibited  in  expression — even  on 
the  canvas — may  study  the  Cyclops  of  Timanthes,  the  works 
of  Ludovico  Caracci,  and  the  Cartoons  of  Raphael.  For 
a vivid  conception  of  the  bold  and  striking  contrasts  pre- 
sented in  the  living  revelations  of  the  tender  and  terrible 
passions  of  human  nature,  we  may  contemplate  the  humble 
penitent  who  seeks  forgiveness  at  the  Cross  ; the  Samaritan 
who  bends  in  compassion  over  the  fallen  stranger  ; the  con- 
queror in  the  hour  of  his  vietpry  ; and  the  maniac,  whose 
brow  has  been  scathed  by  the  fierce  lightnings  of  disordered 
passion,  and  whose  eyes — 

“ like  meteors  in  eclipse, 

Cradle  their  hollow  emptiness.” 

Man,'  in  respect  to  his  body,  is  the  chemical  and  organic 
embodiment  of  all  the  substances  he  has  assimilated,  or  made 
a part  of  himself.  By  a law  that  governs  every  department 
of  the  human  constitution,  and  the  whole  organized  world, 
we  become  like  the  elements  we  feed  upon.  To  render 
the  mind  vigorous  and  the  character  illustrious,  it  is  necessary 
not  only  to  become  familiar  with  great  thoughts  and  noble 
resolutions — by  means  of  the  ordinary  commerce  of  ideas — 


1G8 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


^ but  ive  must  assimilate  themJ  If  they  become  a part  of  our- 
selves, by  a gradual  process  of  passional,  intellectual,  moral 
and  spiritual  assimilation,  they  never  fail  to  fashion  the 
character  , at  the  same  time,  they  leave  indellible  impres- 
sions on  the  outward  form  and  in  the  actual  life.  There  is 
much  of  organic  deformity  and  functional  inharmony  in  the 
world  ; we  are  imperfect  in  ourselves,  and  surrounded,  at 
least,  by  temporary  evils  on  every  liand  ; but  these  may  not 
overcome  a great  and  resolute  soul.  Moreover,  the  world 
is  radiant  and  glorious  with  the  elements  of  Divine  light 
and  beauty,  and  it  remains  for  us — ^by  this  power  and  pro- 
cess of  assimilation— to  make  them  our  own.  Those  who 
would  be  truly  beautiful  in  feature,  expression  and  motion, 
must  be  pure  in  feeling  and  elevated  in  thought.  They 
must  appropriate  all  generous  and  noble  sentiments,  and  all 
living  and  beautiful  ideas.  Thus  the  mind  becomes  a splen- 
did temple,  at  whose  pure  shrine  the  Graces  minister,  and 
wherein  the  images  of  all  glorious  forms  have  an  abiding 
place.  By  the  dynamics  of  the  mind  and  muscles  those  im- 
ages will  reappear  in  the  face.  The  interior  illumination  is 
visible  through  the  half- transparent  shade,  and  the  coun- 
tenance is  transfigured  in  the  light  of  the  spirit.  How 
strangely  deformed,  repulsive,  and  soulless  do  the  patched 
and  painted  harlequins  of  fashionable  society  appear,  when 
viewed  in  contrast  with  a character  that  is  truly  great,  and 
a face  whereon  ineffable  sweetness,  unsullied  honor  and 
sovereign  majesty  are  enthroned  togetlier  I 

The  human  form  and  face,  when  shattered  and  blasted  by 
the  violence  of  perverted  appetites  and  destructive  passions, 
may  be  compared  to  some  feudal  castle  on  wliich  fierce  bat- 


RELATIONS  OP  MIND  TO  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 


169 


tic-storms  have  spent  their  fury  ; over  wliose  ruined  turret 
the  raven  flaps  his  sable  pinions,  and  in  vrhose  deserted  halls 
the  owl  and  the  bat,  and  even  slimy  reptiles,  find  a congen- 
ial dwelling-place.  The  guests  of  such  a man  are  lean,  hun- 
gry demons  ; lascivious  satyrs  ; many  nameless  monsters, 
and  the  embodied  representatives  of  every  vitiated  sense  i 
and  depraved  imagination.  When  the  depressing  and  de- 
structive passions  are  permitted  to  have  unlimited  sway,  they  f 
are  fatal  to  personal  beauty,  as  they  are  to  health  or  vital 
harmony.  As  the  billowy  flames  sweep  over  the  broad  ^ 
prairie,  consuming  the  tender  herbage,  and  leaving  the  wide 
expanse  a blackened  waste,  so  the  more  fearful  and  destruc-  ’ 
tive  flames  of  intense  and  disorderly  passion  sear  and  darken  | 
the  human  visage,  consuming  the  fresh  blossoms  of  Spring, 
and  leaving  no  trace  of  the  beauty  of  youth  or  the  glory  of  ' 
life’s  Summer  time.  Whoever  thus  submits  to  the  foul  do- 
minion of  the  baser  appetites,  will  ere  long  be  scathed  b}  ^ 
internal  and  unquenchable  fires,  until  every  flower  of  beauty 
withers  wdiere  it  grew,  and  the  human  face  is  made  to  re-  ^ 
semble  those  cheerless  deserts  which  the  burning  sirocco  . 
has  blasted  and  made, desolate  forever. 

But  while  some  men  thus  live  and  die  to  admonish  the 
weak  and  tlie  unworthy,  others  who  are  guided  by  Reason 
— who  rule  the  world  in  love — contribute  to  redeem  man- 
kind by  the  truth  and  power  of  a noble  example.  The  man 
who  thus  combines  the  elements  of  true  greatness,  is  at  once 
powerful  in  his  gentleness,  and  gentle  in  the  exhibitions  of 
his  power.  His  soul  is  tlie  fit  temple  of  the  Virtues,  and 
the  living  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence.  In  him  great 
thoughts  are  vital  realities  that  take  form  in  glorious  deeds. 


170 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


He  goes  forth  to  meet  the  human  world  as  Summer  comes  to 
the  waiting  earth — 

“ Sowing  rich  beauty  over  dens  and  tombs, 

And  barren  moors,  and  dismal  solitudes.” 

The  transcendent  light  of  one  such  character  can  neither 
be  extinguished  nor  concealed,  for  the  elements  of  common 
earth,  out  of  which  our  bodies  are  fashioned,  are  not  imper- 
vious to  its  rays.  Such  a man  is,  indeed,  an  epitome  of  the 
Universe.  The  sun  himself  rises  and  shines  in  his  soul,  and 
over  the  full-orbed  world  that  revolves  within  the  orbit  of 
his  mind.  Time,  that  destroys  proud  empires  and  wastes  the 
pyramids,  makes  his  soul  more  perfect,  day  by  day,  and  its 
outward  revelations  ever  more  expressive  and  beautiful. 
And  as  the  Years  let  fall  their  golden  sands  upon  his  head, 
the  spirit  absorbs  and  concentrates  their  light,  that  by  reflec- 
tion it  may  illuminate  the  world.  Even  in  his  old  age,  the 
man  who  answers  this  description  is  never  associated  in  the 
mind  with  mournful  and  deserted  ruins.  We  rather  look 
upon  him  as  a venerable  temple  of  the  Paraclete,  unspoiled 
by  profane  hands,  and  within  whose  consecrated  courts  no 
ruthless  iconoclast  has  defaced  the  sacred  images.  Over 
those  walls  the  ivy  twines  its  tendrils  in  loving  embrace  ; 
beneath  that  illuminated  dome  the  invisible  soul  of  the 
Harmonies  yet  lingers  ; and  within  the  ,open  portals  the 
white-robed  Spirit  stands  gazing,  with  unclouded  vision,  at 
the  Sun — which  seems  largest  at  his  setting.”/ 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ftELATIONS  OF  MIND  TO  THE  CHARACTER  OF  OFFSPRING. 

An  Organic  Law — Natural  Imperfections  the  Causes  of  Social  and  Moral 
Evils— Conditions  and  Laws  of  Vital  and  Moral  Harmony — Law  of  Here- 
ditary Transmission  applicable  to  the  whole  Man — The  Family  Character 
and  the  Family  Face — Apparent  Exceptions  to  the  Law — Mental  and 
Moral  States  of  Parents  reproduced  in  their  Offspring — Illustrative  Exam" 
pies — A Melancholy  Instance — The  Question  of  Responsibility— Injustice 
of  Criminal  Tribunals — Obliquities  of  Reason  and  Conscience— Barbarous 
Spirit  of  Popular  Opinions- The  Church  Contaminated— Deliberate  Mur- 
ders under  the  Sanctions  of  Law  and  Religion — Members  of  Congress 
Honorable  Exceptions — Moral  Blindness — A Mischievous  Doctrine — One 
Law  works  ruin  to  Transgressors,  while  it  redeems  the  Faithful. 

The  whole  world  of  orgaaized  existence  is  subject  to  the 
action  of  one  great  Law.  The  particular  forms  and  spe- 
cial qualities  of  all  things  are  determined  by  the  intrinsic 
nature  and  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  remote  and  gen- 
eral, and  the  immediate  and  individual,  sources  of  their 
organic  life.  The  operation  of  this  law  may  be  traced 
through  the  entire  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms.  The 
man  Avho  sows  good  seed  in  his  field  will  be  sure — other 
things  being  favorable — to  reap  an  abundant  harvest.  On 
the  contrary,  if  the  grain  be  imperfect,  the  germs  will  be 
defective,  and  the  plants  being  sickly  will,  perhaps,  wither 
and  die  before  the  season  of  maturity.  Under  the  same 
general  law,  the  organic  and  other  essential  characteristics 
and  specific  dispositions  of  animals  and  men  are  transmitted 

to  their  olfspring.  It  would  be  unphilosophical  and  absurd 

12 


172 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


to  expect  the  children  of  diseased  and  weakly  parents  to  be 
constitutionally  sound  and  vigorous.  No  more  can  we 
rationally  expect  that  the  offspring  of  ignorance,  indolence 
and  vice,  will  be  distinguished  for  mental  strength  and  vir- 
tuous activity.  The  imperfections  transmitted  from  one 
generation  to  another  are  never  restricted  to  the  body. 
The  whole  man  falls  under  the  operation  of  the  same  law  ; 
and  thus  the  bodily  health,  intellectual  capacity,  and  moral 
character  are  alike  determined.  These  considerations  war- 
rant the  inference  that  there  is  much  in  the  corporeal,  men- 
tal, moral  and  religious  condition  of  m.an,  that  results  from 
antecedent  causes,  against  which — in  tlie  very  nature  of  the 
case — the  individual  can  oppose  no  adequate  resistance. 

The  causes  that  determine  human  feeling,  thought  and 
action,  are  not,  in  all  cases,  subject  to  the  control  of  the 
individual ; much  less  do  they  exist  by  his  volition  or  ap- 
pointment. It  may  be  said  in  truth  of  any  man,  that  his 
original  constitution  laas  not  in  all  respects  perfect ; also  that 
the  multifarious  circumstances  and  conditions  of  his  outward 
life  are  not  precisely  adapted  to  promote  and  secure  his 
greatest  usefulness  and  his  highest  happiness.  No  one,  how- 
ever refined  and  exalted  in  all  things  that  pertain  to  the 
physical,  mental  and  spiritual  life  of  the  woi;ld,  has  yet 
reached  the  sublime  moral  altitude  from  which  the  illumi- 
nated  soul 

“ Stoops  to  touch  the  loftiest  thought.” 

But  the  capacity  to  ascend  to  the  highest  heaven  is  latent 
in  the  soul.  The  power  to  break  away  from  our  mortal 
restraints,  and  to  rise  above  earthly  ills  and  encumbrances 
• — revealed  in  our  aspirations  — will  be  realized  in  Ihc  great 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPRING. 


17H 


(Hereafter,  as  we  rise  from  tlie  present  imperfect  actual  up 
through  the  infinitely  unfolding  Ideal  of  human  existence. 

^len  do  not  create  their  own  faculties  nor,  consciously, 
fashion  the  organic  medium  through  which  they  act.  The 
individual  is  not  responsible  for  the  blending  of  mental  and 
temperamental  qualities  in  his  constitution  ; he  did  not  in- 
stitute the  social  order  and  the  political  systems  of  the 
world  ; nor  bring  with  him  the  unfavorable  conditions  and 
false  relations  which  inevitably — in  a greater  or  less  degree 
— determine  the  manner  and  the  issues  of  his  life.  To  find 
the  causes  of  these  evils,  and  to  account  for  the  wide  diver- 
sity in  the  characteristics  of  men,  and  the  aspects  of  human 
existence,  it  would  be  necessary  to  go  back  beyond  the  dawn 
of  consciousness  in  the  individual.  There  we  might,  per- 
haps, discover  the  reason  why  one  man  is  from  his  birth  free 
from  any  organic  defect,  or  constitutional  infirmity,  that  may 
predispose  him  to  sickness  and  death  ; while,  in  many  others, 
life  is  poisoned  at  the  fountain.  We  might  also  discover 
that  outward  conditions  often  make  human  destiny  on  earth 
a painful  problem,  to  be  solved  on  the  moral  blackboard  of 
perverted  faculties  and  a misspent  life. 

It  has  been  observed  that  organic  perfection  is  indispen- 
sable to  vital  harmony.  If  one  organ  be  defective,  the  ac- 
tion of  the  whole  system  may  be  irregular,  and  its  continu- 
ance uncertain.  A man  may  constantly  observe  the  organic 
laws,  and  in  notliing  disregard  his  relations  to  the  physical 
world  ; but  if  the  body  and  the  vital  movement  be  incom- 
plete or  irregular,  all  his  efforts  may  be  inadequate  to  secure 
permanent  health  and  protracted  existence.  Improvement 
in  such  cases  is  certainlv  not  impossible  ; on  the  contrary,  a 


174 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


faithful  observance  of  the  laws  of  our  being  cannot  fail  to 
secure  comparative  health  and  happiness.  The  mental  and 
moral  faculties,  not  less  than  their  corporeal  instruments, 
acquire  new  strength  by  right  action.  By  this  means  we 
may  escape  many  of  the  ills  from  which  others  suffer.  We 
may  fortify  ourselves  in  such  a manner  as  to  guard  against 
outward  foes  ; by  which  I mean,  various  maladies  and  causes 
of  vital  derangement,  not  involved  in  the  laivs  of  procreation, 
and  to  which  we  have  no  constitutional  predisposition.  But 
when  the  foe  is  in  possession  of  the  citadel — lohich  he  holds 
hy  a hereditary  tide — when  disease  has  its  origin  and  its  seat 
in  the  very  rudiments  of  human  nature,  and  its  deadly  virus 
is  transfused  through  every  vein  and  artery  ; when  its  con- 
suming fires  dissipate  the  fluids,  torture  the  nerves,  and  tl.e 
tissues  shrivel  like  parchments  cast  in  flames —then,  indeed, 
we  may  strive  earnestly,  but  strive  in  vain,  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  or  to  resist  his  power.  Many  persons  live  just  long 
enough  to  sow  the  seeds  of  misery,  and  then  depart,  leaving- 
others  to  reap  the  fearful  harvest  of  pain  and  death.  Wher- 
ever the  elements  of  a congenital  disease  exist,  and  are 
transmitted,  the  subtile  destroyer  will  sooner  or  later  mani- 
fest his  presence — if  not  otherwise — in  the  pale  countenance, 
the  frail,  attenuated  frame,  the  bloated  limbs,  or  the  demon- 
iac expression.  Thus  the  blood  of  generations  is  polluted 
and  set  on  fire  ; and  the  fair  forms  of  thousands  fade  and 
pass  away  in  life’s  morning  hours. 

There  are  abrupt  and  painful  contrasts  in  life,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  overlook  the  deep  shadows  and  startling  col- 
ors combined  in  the  picture  of  the  ivorld  as  it  is.  But  if 
there  are  organic  imperfections,  which  inevitably  result  in 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPRING. 


175 


an  irregular  vital  motion,  uncertain  health  and  premature 
dissolution  ; so,  also,  there  are  many  people  in  whom  the 
cerebral  development  and  action  are  no  less  unequal  and 
irregular,  and  such  persons  are  liable  to  be  imbecile  in  mind 
or  unstable  in  virtue.  If,  in  the  one  case,  there  is  a natural 
predisposition  to  disease  and  a speedy  disorganization  of 
the  s}^stem,  there  is  in  the  other  an  equally  forcible  manifes- 
tation of  such  mental  and  moral  infirmities  as  lead  to  a still 
more  fearful  ruin  of  earthly  interests  and  human  hopes.  If 
one  person  is  rendered  sickly  by  hereditary  infirmities, 
which  he  could  neither  remove  nor  successfully  resist,  it  is 
quite  as  obvious  that  another  may  be  depraved  and  vicious 
from  a similar  cause.  There  is  not  so  much  as  the  poorest 
semblance  of  reason  in  the  assumption — whether  expressed 
or  implied — that  one  part  of  man’s  nature  is  thus  subject  to 
the  law  of  hereditary  transmission  of  forms  and  qualities, 
whilst  other  departments  and  attributes  of  his  being  are  not 
so  influenced  and  determined. 

Thus  the  original  constitutions  of  some  people  are  ren- 
dered as  truly  incompatible  with  strict  moral  rectitude,  as 
others  are  with  the  laws  of  vital  harmony  and  the  realiza- 
tion of  sound  health.  The  child  is  as  sure  to  resemble  tlie 
parent  in  its  moral  characteristics  as  in  its  mental  faculties 
and  physical  form,  features,  expression,  complexion  and 
other  distinctive  qualities.  Hence  the  family  character  is 
often  quite  as  perceptible — through  succeeding  generations 
—as  is  the  family  face.  If  it  be  objected  that  some  individ- 
uals, in  respect  to  character,  are  altogether  different  from 
their  progenitors,  my  reply  is— the  child  does  not,  in  all 
cases,  resemble  the  parents  in  form,  feature  and  complexion. 


176 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


These  apparent  exceptions  to  the  universal  law,  doubtless, 
result  from  peculiar  combinations  of  opposite  personal  qual- 
ities— thus  united  in  the  same  organization — from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  psychical  laws,  and  in  part,  perhaps,  from  causes 
which  are  neither  accurately  defined  nor  clearly  understood. 
However,  that  the  law  I am  endeavoring  to  elucidate  really 
exists,  no  intelligent  observer  will  be  disposed  to  deny  ; 
nor  can  we  reasonably  presume  that  any  portion  of  human 
nature  is  beyond  its  dominion,  or  exempt  from  its  influence. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  mental  faculties  and  moral 
states  of  men  and  women  are  reproduced  in  their  offspring. 
We  are  familiar  with  a gentleman  of  high  respectability — 
the  father  of  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are  living— who  as- 
sures us  that  he  is  able  to  trace  in  each  one  the  existing 
states,  personal  habits  and  general  pursuits  which  character- 
ized his  life  at  the  time  they  were  respectively  generated. 
At  one  time,  having  just  commenced  his  labors  in  the  minis- 
try, his  mind  was  for  some  months  most  solemnly  impressed 
with  the  weight  of  his  new  responsibilities.  Though  natur- 
ally buoyant  in  spirit  and  somewhat  inclined  to  mirth,  lie 
seldom  smiled,  rarely  conversed  on  trifling  topics,  but  de- 
voted a large  share  of  his  time  to  silent  meditation.  Dur- 
ing that  period  his  second  daughter  was  born.  The  child 
was  well  organized,  bright  and  intellectual  ; but  in  her 
childhood  was  not  disposed  to  talk,  and  was  never  known 
to  laugh  aloud  until  she  was  more  than  four  months  old. 

Some  time  since  the  writer  spent  several  days  in  Western 

New  York,  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  C , an  honest  and  a 

generous  man.  Some  twenty  years  ago  he  was  employed  in 
making  extensive  additions  and  repairs  to  his  house.  The 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPKINO. 


177 


work  occupied  a long  time,  having — from  various  causes — 
been  repeatedly  suspended.  The  premises  were  in  a state 
of  confusion  all  the  while,  and  Mrs.  C , though  an  excel- 

lent lady,  was  not  one  who  could  feel  settled  in  mind  so  long 
as  everything  around  her  was  in  disorder.  Possessing  a 
most  active  temperament,  acute  sensibilities,  and  withal  a 
large  love  of  order,  her  discordant  surroundings  kept  up  an 
unpleasant  excitement  of  mind,  and  increased  her  nervous 
irritability.  There  was  no  place  where  she  could  feel  at 
rest,  and  she  sighed  in  vain  for  the  solace  of  undisturbed 

repose.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C have  a son  who  was  conceived 

and  born  under  the  influence  of  this  nervous  and  mental  agi- 
tation. The  young  man  is  constitutionally  restless,  dissatis- 
fied and  unhappy  in  a surprising  degree.  In  his  waking 
hours  he  seldom  remains  longer  than  a few  minutes  in  one 
place,  and  during  his  whole  life  he  has  been  constantly 
“seeking  rest  and  finding  none.’’ 

A miserable  man— who  often  shocked  the  delicate  sensi- 
bilities of  his  wife  b}^  staggering  into  her  presence  in  a state 
of  intoxication — has  not  only  transmitted  his  insatiable 
thirst  to  his  unfortunate  son,  but  even  reproduced  (either 
directly  or  through  the  action  of  the  mother’s  mind)  his  own 
irregular  locomotion,  so  that  the  youth  could  never  walk 
straight.  It  is  but  a few  years  since  such  a melancholy  ex- 
ample came  under  the  writer’s  observation.  The  boy  was 
then  some  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  in  other  respects  an  in- 
teresting youth  ; but,  alas ! he  is  the  moving,  lifelong  and 
appalling  record  of  the  great  error  of  his  sire  ! A lifetime 
spent  in  penance,  as  an  atonement,  could  never  obliterate 
the  fatal  consequences  of  one  such  deplorable  mistake. 


178 


MAN  AND  Ills  TvELATtONS. 


Such  mournful  records  do  reckless  men  and  thoughtless  or 
abandoned  women  leave  behind  them  to  testify  that  they 
have  lived ! 

But  how  does  our  general  course  of  reasoning  affect  the 
question  of  individual  responsibility  ? It  may  be  objected 
that  if  a man  inclines  to  evil,  on  account  of  some  original 
defect  in  his  mental  and  moral  constitution,  it  follows  that 
he  acts  from  an  irresistible  necessity  ; that  he  is  in  no  way 
responsible  for  his  conduct,  and  we  can  do  nothing  to  reform 
him.  But  our  argument  surely  does  not  authorize  the  con- 
clusion that  man  is  a mere  machine,  destitute  of  voluntary 
powers,  and  wholly  subject  to  the  control  of  foreign  agents. 
The  objection — which  is  based  on  a false  inference — is  in 
itself  rathei-  specious  than  sound.  If  a man  be  of  a con- 
sumptive habit,  it  does  not  thence  follow  that  he  has  nothing 
to  do  to  preserve  health.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  more 
important  for  such  an  one  to  exercise  the  utmost  caution. 
A well  man  may  venture  to  inhale  the  night  air,  he  may 
brave  the  storms,  the  floods  and  the  frosts  ; but  for  a sick 
man  to  expose  himself  in  a similar  manner  would  be  rash 
and  perhaps  inexcusable.  This  will  equally  well  apply  to 
man  as  a moral  agent.  If  there  exists  a constitutional  in- 
clination to  evil,  or  a perverted  exercise  of  the  faculties, 
it  is  the  more  necessary  for  the  individual  to  be  strictly 
guarded  against  every  cause  or  circumstance  which  may 
favor  his  downward  determination.  It  is  the  more  import- 
ant that  all  good  influences  be  brought  to  bear  on  him,  for 
in  this  way  we  may  restrain  and  strengthen  him,  and  in  the 
end  give  him  a moral  momentum  from  which  ho  will  move 
onward  and  upward. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPRING. 


170 


ITowevcr,  from  our  investigation  of  tlie  laws  of  Iminan 
nature,  and  the  present  imperfect  conditions  of  society,  it  is 
rendered  obvious  tliat  many  transactions  in  tliis  woi’ld  are 
properly  referable  to  such  a predisposition  of  mind,  on  the 
part  of  the  actor,  as  fairly  places ‘him  without  the  pale  of 
ordinary  responsibility.  Legislators  and  jurists  may  be 
slow  in  the  legal  and  practical  recognition  of  this  truth  ; 
but  the  enlightened  moral  philosopher  can  entertain  no 
doubt  on  this  point.  The  man  who  is  absolutely  impelled  in 
a wrong  direction,  should  not  be  fiercely  censured  and 
rudely  condemned  for  yielding  to  an  irresistible  impulsion. 
A moral  obliquity  may  he  as  excusable  as  a spinal  curvature. 
If,  in  respect  to  jiis  moral  nature,  a man  is  lame,  he  must 
have  extrinsic  aids  and  supports  to  assist  him  through  the 
world,  and  he  should  no  more  he  sent  to  perdition  for  limping 
than  any  other  cripple. 

Whoever  inherits  diseased  appetites  and  perverted  pas- 
sions may  find  them  stronger  than  either  the  reverence  for 
law  or  the  love  of  liberty.  Indeed,  so  long  as  life  lasts  they 
may  defeat  the  best  resolutions,  and  in  every  conflict  con- 
quer the  man  ; though  all  the  while,  with  an  inward  desire 
for  a purer  and  nobler  life,  he  continues  to 

“ Resolve  and  re-resolve,  then  dies  the  same  ’’ 

And  even  when  life  is  over,  according  to  the  proverb,  “ the 
ruling  passion  may  be  strong  in  death.” 

Now,  in  my  judgment,  a man  is  entitled  to  quite  as  much 
sympathy  and  compassion,  if  the  defects  of  his  constitution 
belong  to  the  moral  economy  of  his  being,  as  if  they  were 
the  more  superficial  evils  which  chiefly  effect  the  body.  Yet, 
strange  to  say,  so  far  as  congenital  evils  merely  influence  the 


180 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


vital  functions,  or  the  operations  of  the  intellect,  they  are 
regarded  as  blameless  misfortunes ; at  the  same  time,  in 
every  instance  where  they  involve  the  moral  constitution 
and  action,  they  are  viewed  as  criminal  offenses.]  It  will  be 
perceived  that  the  ordinary  treatment,  in  cases  of  moral  dis- 
ease or  derangement,  derives  no  sanction  or  support  from  our 
course  of  analogical  reasoning.  ‘Moreover,  the  common  dis- 
position of  offenders  against  the  laws  is  at  war  with  the 
essential  principles  and  the  benign  spirit  of  a true  moral  and 
Christian  philosophy.  Sick  people — even  when  disease*  is 
the  result  of  careless  exposure,  or  a conscious  violation  of 
some  known  law — are  tenderly  nursed.  The  deaf,  dumb 
and  blind,  as  well  as  idiots  and  insane  people,  are  all  kindly 
cared  for  ; but  if  one  be  morally  incomplete,  or  some  terri- 
ble malady  has  its  origin  in  the  very  rudiments  of  his  moral 
nature,  he  is  savagely  treated  even  by  the  professed  minis- 
ters of  justice^  How  is  humanity  crushed  and  trodden  under 
foot,  and  language  perverted,  when  justice  is  but  a softer 
name  for  cruelty  and  revenge  ; and  we  are  obliged  to  go, 
for  the  world’s  definition,  to  the  whipping-post  and  the  gal- 
lows ; or  to  loathsome  dungeons — fit  sepulchers  for  dead 
men’s  bones — where  lizards  copulate  and  multiply  ! Even 
in  this  model  Republic  the  high  places  of  authority  and  re- 
sponsibility are  often  occupied  by  petty  despots,  and  licensed 
criminals,  who  sit  in  judgment  on  their  fellows.  Professing 
to  be  human,  to  be  civilized,  and,  withal,  to  be  Christian;  (?) 
tliey  yet  disfigure  men’s  bodies  with  the  lash,  or  break  their 
necks  on  the  scaffold,  in  a formal  manner,  and  before  vulgar 
crowds.  I The  judgment  of  the  court,  the  writing  of  the 
death-warrant,  and  the  foul  work’ of  the  executioner,  are  all 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPRING. 


181 


done  midcr  the  high  sanctions  of  Law  and  Religion  ; and 
accompanied,  too,  with  the  solemnities  of  prayer  ! In  tlie  in- 
sulted name  of  Jesus— who  “ came  not  to  destroy  meids  lives, 
but  to  save  them” — some  professed  minister  of  his  Gospel 
pronounces  a benediction,  and  thus  ends  the  horrid  tragedy 
and.  this  injustice — according  to  the  fashion  of  this  world!/ 

‘‘Earth  is  sick,  and  Heaven  is  weary, 

Of  the  heartless  words  that  States  and  Kingdoms  utter 

When  they  talk  of  justice  !” 

It  may  be  said  that  much  that  is  abnormal  and  wrong  in 
liiiman  conduct  cannot  be  traced  to  hereditary  and  organic 
predispositions  to  evil.  This  is  very  true.  Many  persons 
become  depraved  and  vicious  from  the  influence  of  corrupt 
examples,  and  from  a variety  of  other  causes.  But  we  have 
looked  in  vain  to  the  exponents  of  Law  and  the  teachers  of 
Religion  for  a wise  discrimination  in  this  matter.  The  de- 
gree of  moral  turpitude,  in  the  individual,  is  measured  and 
determined  by  the  abstract  nature  of  his  act,  and  not  at  all 
by  the  man’s  power  or  his  incapacity  to  have  acted  other- 
wise. He  may  be  as  incapable  of  perceiving  a moral  dis- 
tinction as  a blind  man  is  of  discerning  colors,  or  a hole  in 
'the  wall ; but  this  will  avail  nothing  in  extenuation.  Phy- 
sical blindness,  to  be  sure,  is  a great  misfortune,  and  those 
who  suffer  from  this  disability  are  very  properly  sent  to 
some  asylum  to  receive  a polite  education  ; but  moral  blind- 
ness is  regarded  as  a crime,  for  which  the  poor  victim  may 
very  justly  be  sent  to  prison  here  and  to  hell  hereafter. 
Neither  his  natural  constitution  and  temperament,  nor  his 
education  and  early  associations,  are  competent  to  materially 
modify  the  legitimate  course  and  bearing  of  the  law.  Yet 


182 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


men  who  are  imbecile  in  mind,  and  whose  moral  perceptions 
are  obscure  and  therefore  unreliable,  often  fall  because  un- 
able to  see  clearly,  oi“  to  preserve  their  moral  equilibrium. 
They  have  not  the  strength  to  stand  erect  in  truth  and  vir- 
tue, and — in  numerous  instances — they  are  no  more  to  be’ 
blamed  for  falling  than  the  traveler  at  night  who  stumbles 
over  a precipice. 

However,  if  any  unusual  clemency  is  manifested,  it  is 
generally  reserved  for  those  who,  perhaps,  least  deserve  it. 
Our  tribunals  are  sometimes  merciful  to  the  enlightened 
transgressor — the  man  who  has  had  the  advantages  of  a su- 
perior education  and  refined  society,  and  who  may  therefore 
be  presumed  to  have  clearer  perceptions  of  right  and  wrong. 
If  any  indulgence  is  granted,  it  is  to  %is  class  of  genteel 
offenders,  while  all  legal  and  deserved  penalties  are  reserved 
for  vulgar  sinners,  who  have  no  influential  friends  to  shield 
them.  Even  a coarse,  blundering  saint,  is  less  respected  in 
our  modern  fashionable  society,  than  a polite  and  accom- 
plished knave  ] and  by  common  consent  men  of  great  wealth 
and  members  of  Congress  are  entitled  to  the  special  privilege 
of  shooting  people  and  going  unhung  ! 

^Punishments,  to  be  salutary  in  their  influence,  must  be  be- 
nevolent in  their  design,  and  of  such  a nature  as  to  increase 
the  moral  strength  of  the  subject..'  In  all  cases  we  should 
keep  in  view  the  legitimate  objects  of  government  and  the 
true  dignity  of  Man.  Moreover,  those  who  blindly  seek  and 
consummate  their  own  ruin  do  not  tliercby  foifeit  all  claim 
to  human  sympathy  and  the  Divine  regard.  If  a naturally 
sound  and  vigorous  man  sliould  lose,  his  liealth  in  conse- 
quence of  his  own  imprudence,  it  would  still  be  our  duty  to 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  OFFSPRING. 


183 


watch  over  him  in  sickness  and  to  minister  to  his  wants. 

Or,  should  lie  pluck  out  his  own  eyes,  he  would  certainly 
deserve  as  much  sympathy  as  an  ordinary  blind  man.  Nor 
is  this  remark  untrue  in  its  application  to  the  moral  nature. 

•What  if  thy  fellow  be  willing  to  exchange  an  Eden  of  light 
and  joy  for  a wilderness  of  darkness  and  despair ! To  be 
thus  morally  insensible,  is,  of  all  other  misfortunes,  the,^ 
greatest  and  the  most  deeply  to  be  deplored.  The  world  ^ ^ / 

and  the  church  may  leave  such  to  perish  ; but  the  great 
Father  will  remember  and  watch  over  his  wayward  child. 

If  we  consider  how  much  the  life,  character  and  condition 
of  the  individual  are  made  dependent  on  preexisting  causes, 
over  which  he  can  exercise  no  possible  control,  we  shall  be- 
come more  charitable  in  our  judgments,  and  more  humane  in 
our  treatment  of  the  abandoned  and  criminal  classes.  To 
reform  the  offender  we  must  lift  him  up  from  his  fallen  con- 
dition. The  wise  husbandman  who  finds  in  his  nursery  a 
tree  that  is  inclined  to  take  an  oblique  direction,  never 
treads  it  into  the  dust.  On  the  contrary — if  he  designs  to 
have  it  upright — he  gently  raises  it  up,  and  secures  it  in  its 
proper  place,  until  its  original  downward  tendency  is  over- 
come, and  it  is  prepared  to  stand  erect  in  its  own  strength. 

Then  let  no  one  trample  his  fellow  to  the  ground  because  he\ 
is  morally  bowed  down.  If  he  has  “ fallen  among  thieves”  \ 
who  have  stolen  the  divine  loves  from  his  heart,  stripped 
him  of  the  robes  of  innocence,  and  robbed  him  of  his  peace  \ 
of  mind  ; be  thou  to  him  neither  the  priest  nor  the  levite,  \ 
but  the  good  Samaritan.  Have  compassion  and  lift  him  up  : 
again  ; minister  to  his  necessities,  and  he  may  yet  stand  up- 
right in  the  dignity  of  a divine  Manhood. 


1S4 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


^Reader,  if  thou  art  strong  in  the  integrity  of  mind,  and 
^ heart,  and  life  ; let  not  that  superior  strength  prompt  thee 
^ to  despise  thy  brother  of  lower  degree.  He  may  have  some 
I constitutional  weakness ; some  unfortunate  tendency  of  mind  ; 
I some  obliquity  of  reason  or  perversion  of  the  affections, 
against  which  he  is  struggling  night  and  day^ — struggling, 
( perhaps,  in  vain,  yet  with  the  sincerity  and  heroism  of  a 
I martyr.  If  he  is  no  better  than  St.  Paul,  there  may  be  “ a 
law  in  his  members  warring  against  the  law  of  the  mind, 
{ and  bringing  him  into  captivity.’’  On  the  other  hand  the 
constitution  of  thy  nature  may  be  more  fortunate.  Moral 
( powers  and  intellectual  capacities,  which  have  not  fallen  to 
his  lot,  may  happily  be  thine.  But  “ who  maketh  thee  to  dif- 
I fer  from  another,  and  what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  re- 
ceive” ? Be  not  high-minded.  If  thou  art  great  and  strong, 
it  is  well.  True  greatness  will  neither  minister  to  a vain 
pride  nor  foster  a selfish  ambition ; but  will  cause  its  posses- 
I sor  to  be  humble  and  grateful.  Come,  0 Spirit  of  Light  and 
Charity  ! Come  quickly  ! Speak  to  the  listening  world  in 
I that  deep  prophetic  voice  that  thrilled  the  soul  of  the  Poet : 

“ When  through  the  silence  overhead 
An  Angel  with  a trumpet  said, 

Forevermore,  Forevermore, 

The  Reign  of  Violence  is  o’er. 

Then  like  an  instrument,  that  flings 
Its  music  on  another’s  strings. 

The  Trumpet  of  the  Angel  cast 
Upon  the  heavenly  lyre  its  blast ; 

And  on— from  sphere  to  sphere— the  vords 
Reechoed  down  the  burning  chords, 

Forevermore,  Forevermore, 

• The  Reign  of  Violence  is  o’er  1’^ 

It  may  be  objected  that  our  philosophy  of  tlie  moral  ob- 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MfND  ON  OFFSPRING.  iSj 

liquities  of  liiiman  nature  is  opposed  to  tlie  Divine  justice 
and  benevolence,  since  it  presumes  that  the  innocent  some- 
times suffer  for  the  guilty.  It  is  written  in  an  ancient  Book 
that  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  is,  or  may  be,  visited  on  the 
children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generations.  It  is  true  that 
the  influence  of  our  actions  never  can  be  restricted  to  our- 
selves, nor  even  to  the  times  in  which  we  live.  From  our 
intimate  and  indissoluble  connection  with  the  Race,  it  will 
extend  to  those  around  us,  and  in  some  degree  to  all  who 
shall  come  after  us.  ^The  doctrine,  therefore,  that  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  individual  entitles  liim  to  disregard  his  rela- 
tions to  others  and  to  society  at  large — gives  him  the  right 
to  do  wrong,  under  the  shallow  pretense  of  taking  the  con- 
sequences to  himself — is  a selfish  and  mischievous  falsehood.  I 
Such  an  individual  sovereignty  does  not  exist,  and  this  in- 
sidious and  corrupting  philosophy  has  no  fellowship  with 
Reason  and  Humanity.  The  institutions  of  Nature  are  not 
merely  adapted  to  men  in  their  individual  circumstances, 
capacities  and  relations.  They  are  parts  of  one  universal 
system,  and  must  be  regarded  not  as  separate  and  independ- 
ent forms  of  being,  but  they  should  be  viewed  in  the  light  of 
that  Wisdom  which  comprehends  all  things  in  thei^’  true  re- 
lations, and  with  a wise  reference  to  their  ultimate  results. 

The  very  law  whereby  the  distinctive  attributes  and  spe- 
cific tendencies  of  one  individual  are  transmitted  to  another, 
forms  no  exception  to  the  benevolence  and  wisdom  which 
characterize  the  whole  economy  of  Nature.  It  is  granted 
and  insisted  that,  through  the  operations  of  this  law,  men 
sometimes  propagate  disease  and  multiply  murder.  Millions 
are  borne  down  the  polluted  stream  of  Time  to  perish  on 


186 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tiie  Stygian  shorn.  But  with  our  limited  knowledge  we 
should  be  slow  in  our  disposition  to  impeach  the  Divine 
wisdom.  I think  I perceive  the  justice  of  this  law.  True, 
if  we  disregard  its  requirements,  our  cliildren  may  be  more 
frail  and  imperfect  than  ourselves.  Nevertheless,  I feel  as- 
sured that  this  very  law  is  at  the  foundation  of  our  highest 
hopes,  and  inwrought  with  the  imperishable  glories  of  the 
immortal  life  and  world.  In  the  absence  of  such  a law,  the 
succeeding  generations  of  men  would  occupy  much  the  same 
position.  At  least,  there  could  be  no  improvement  in  the 
natural  constitutions  of  men  resulting  from  obedience  to  the 
principles  of  natural  rectitude  ; hence,  the  general  c.ondition 
of  society,  from  age  to  age,  would  exhibit  little  or  no  im- 
provement in  the  Eace.  The  same  law  that  involves  the 
retrogression  and  ruin  of  transgressors,  is  the  law  of  Pro- 
gression to  those  who  observe  its  requirements.  To  all 
such  it  is  the  ladder  on  which  they  ascend  to  Heaven.  Obey 
that  law,  and  it  shall  be  a lever  to  raise  the  world.  Thus 
the  whole  Race  may  advance  in  intellectual,  moral  and  spir- 
^ itual  excellence  until  Man  shall  rival  the  Angels,  and  be- 
come, in  the  highest  and  holiest  sense — the  child  op  God. 
The  earnest  prayer  of  Humanity  will  then  be  answered,  and 
the  sweet  prophecy  of  a Divine  Kingdom  on  earth  fulfdlcd. 
The  Philosopher  will  have  found  the  New  Atlantis;  the 
PoePs  dream  of  Utojyla  will  be  realized  ; and  the  fraternal 
nations  will  meet  at  the  open  gates  of  a vast  Commonwealth 
more  glorious  than  Campanella’s  City  of  the  Sun. 

Then  shall  the  reign  of  Truth  commence  on  earth, 

- And  starting  fresh,  as  from  a second  birtli, 

Man,  in  the  sunshine  of  the  world’s  new  spring, 

Shall  walk  transparent  like  some  holy  thing.” 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  SENSES  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS. 

Number  of  the  Senses — The  Faculties  and  Organs — Sight — Hearing — Smell 
ing — Tasting — Feeling — Estimated  number  of  nerves  in  a single  Organ — 
General  diffusion  of  Sensibility — Philosophy  of  Vision — Views  of  the 
Platonists,  Stoics  and  Epicureans — Mariotte’s  opinion  respecting  the  seat 
of  Vision — Sir  David. Brewster  and  M.  Lehot — The  Sensorial  Processes— • 
Alfred  Smee^s  experimental  Illustrations. 

Through  all  these  faculties  ablaze  with  light 
From  God’s  inlinitude  I looked  abroad. 

And  each  according  to  its  form,  its  place, 

Its  function  or  its  element,  received 
A separate  splendor  from  the  All  in  All. 

Lyric  of  the  Golden  Age. 

The  Senses  are  the  faculties  whereby  we  perceive  the 
existence  of  the  objective  creation  ; and  become  ac 
quainted  with  the  precise  outlines,  relative  positions,  com- 
parative dimensions,  and — to  some  extent — with  the  intrin- 
sic properties  and  existing  states  of  material  forms  and 
substances.  Several  metaphysical  writers,  who  were  quite  as 
much  distinguished  for  the  originality  as  for  the  accuracy  of 
their  speculations,  have  maintained  the  existence  of  six  or 
Sdven  distinct  Senses  S but  the  commonly  accepted  classifica- 

1 Dr.  Thomas  Brown  of  Edinburgh,  and  also  Whewell,  in  his  Philosophy  of 
the  Inductive  Sciences,  maintained  the  existence  of  what  they  denominated 
the  muscular  sense.  Moreover,  several  writers  have  spoken  of  the  moral  sense, 
and  likewise  of  the  esthetic  sense,  as  if  they  were  separate  faculties  of  the  mind, 
ana  to  be  included  in  the  category  of  the  other  senses. 

13  ' 


.188 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tion  of  our  perceptions  resolves  them  into  Jive,  namely,  sight, 
hearing,  smelling,  tasting,  and  feeling.  The  Latin  sentio,  to 
feel — in  its  application  alike  to  all  the  external  phases  and 
instruments  of  perception — is  not  misapplied  ; for,  in  a ger  • 
eral  J'eeling  may  comprehend  them  all. 

From  our  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  the  Senses,  as  well  as 
from  all  ordinary  observations  of  their  organic  functions,  we 
readily  perceive  that  in  their  corporeal  relations  and  external 
aspects,  they  belong  to  the  whole  animal  creation  as  well  as 
to  Man,  while — in  a very  limited  degree — certain  plants  seem 
to  exhibit  a participation  with  animated  nature  in  the  myste* 
rious  powers  of  sensation.  Nevertheless,  in  human  nature— 
as  will  be  more  clearly  perceived  hereafter — all  the  Senses 
converge  and  have  their  ultimate  seat  in  the  individual  con- 
sciousness— in  the  spirit — as  the  several  organs  of  sensation 
all  center  in  the  physical  sensorium,  . 

/ Sight  is  very  generally  regarded  as  the  most  important  of 
the  five  Senses.  It  is  through  the  eye  that  we  obtain  the 
clearest  perceptions  of  the  particular  forms  and  relative 
positions  of  all  outward  objects.  Destroy  the  vision,  and 
the  panorama  of  the  living  world  would  be  rolled  up — the 
spectator  left  in  the  darkened  lialls  of  space,  and  the  stately 
procession  of  the  stars  would  retire,  to  lie  present  to  our 
cognition  no  more.  Sight  is  the  only  sense  from  which  we 
derive  any  pi'oper  conception  of  color.  Without  the  faculty 
of  vision  darkness  of  all  things  would  be  most  substantiaJ, 
for  day  with  night  (in  our  experience,)  would  alternate  no 
more.  The  beauty  of  the  green  earth  ; the  waters,  as  they 
(lance  and  shimmer  in  the  sunlight  ; the  azure  d(^ci)s,  vailed 
with  gold,  crimson  and  purple  draperies  ; and  tlie  refidgent 


THE  SENSES  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS. 


isy 

dyes,  diffused  from  the  great  alembic  of  Nature,  making  the 
flowers  more  beautiful  than  “ Solomon  in  all  his  glory’’ — all 
these  with  the  forms  of  human  beauty,  and  the  smiles  of  joy 
and  love,  would  be  intangible  and  unknown.  It  required  a 
great,  inspired  genius — overshadowed  by  the  misfortune  that 
hides  the  world — to  give  us  Milton’s  graphic  picture  : 

Thus  with  the  year 

Seasons  return  ; hut  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  eve  or  morn, 

Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  Summer’s  rose. 

Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine  ; 

But  cloud  instead,  and  ever-during  dark 
Surround  me  5 from  the  cheerful  ways  of  men 
Cut  otf,  and,  for  the  book  of  knowledge  fair, 

Presented  with  an  universal  blank 
Of  Nature’s  work,  to  me  expunged  and  ’rased, 

And  wisdom  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out.”/ 

Through  the  sense  of  Hearing  we  become  acquainted  with 
the  peculiar  motions  of  material  bodies  and  the  correspond- 
ing vibrations  of  subtile  elements  which  produce  the  diver- 
sified phenomena  of  sound.  Strictly  speaking,  sound  is  only 
a sensation,  and  hence  an  elastic  medium  of  communication 
between  the  moving  object  or  sonorous  body  and  the  acoustic 
organ,  is  indispensable  to  its  production.  This  was  demon- 
strated by  the  experiments  of  Hauksbee  and  Biot.  When 
they  suspended  a bell  in  the  exhausted  receiver  of  an  air 
pump,  no  sound  was  transmitted.  It  will  be  perceived  that 
hearing  is  intinii^tely  related  to  the  laws  of  acoustics,  as  sight 
is  to  the  whole  science  of  optics  and  chromatics.  Some 
knowledge  of  those  branches  of  physics  may  therefore  be 
necessary  to  a clear  understanding  of  the  subject ; but  the 


190 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


writer  can  not  occupy  tlie  space  allotted  to  this  Chapter  with 
a disquisition  on  collateral  issues,  or  the  particular  sciences 
to  which  the  general  subject  is  so  obviously  related. 

/Tlie  sense  of  hearing  contributes  very  much  to  the  proper 
education  of  the  mind,  and  to  the  real  pleasures  of  our  social 
existence.  We  can  but  imperfectly  conceive  of  its  uses,  even 
while  they  are  a constant  revelation  to  the  consciousness  ; 
and  when  the  mournful  contrast — suggested  by  the  depri- 
vation of  this  sense — is  presented  in  living  forms  before  us, 
we  seldom  realize  the  truth,  that  the  perpetual  darkness  that 
shrouds  the  sightless  mortal  is  scarcely  more  intolerable,  or 
more  to  be  deplored,  than  the  unbroken  silence  that  reigns 
above,  beneath,  and  around  the  man  who  is  deprived  of 
hearing.  To  him  the  elements  are  all  dumb  ; earth  and  air 
respond  in  no  measured  resonance — loud  or  soft.  The  birds 
are  voiceless  in  the  trees  ; the  grand  quartette  of  the  Winds — 
that  made  the  mountain  pines  tuneful  from  sympathy — is 
hushed  forever  ; the  liquid  melodies  of  the  rippling  waters 
no  more 

“ On  bubbling  keys  are  played 

even  the  deep,  mysterious  voices  of  the  sea  become  inau- 
dible, while  the  soft  tones  and  the  sweet  speech  of  Love 
expire  together  on  the  lip.  To  all  such  the  world  is  silent, 
indeed,  and  existence  is  solitaryy 

The  sense  of  Smell  is  far  less  important  to  man  than  siglit 
or  hearing.  It  is  also  much  less  acute  in  tlie  human  race 
than  in  several  species  of  animals.  The  dog  will  follow  a 
fox  or  a hare  for  hours  without  once  seeing  the  game,  but 
wholly,  it  is  presumed,  from  the  peculiar  odor  that  remains 


THE  SENSES  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS. 


191 


in  tlic  invisible  footprints.  Perhaps  no  otlier  sense  is  so 
frequently  defective  or  so  liable  to  become  impaired  from 
slight  causes  ; and  it  is  worthy  of  observation  that  there  is 
not  one  which  may  be  suspended  with  so  little  inconvenience 
to  ourselves  or  others.  Its  loss  docs  not  unfit  a man  for 
business,  and  it  can  not  materially  embarrass  his  intercourse 
with  the  world. 

But  Avlien  this  sense  is  so  perfect  as  to  detect  the  presence 
of  the  most  delicate  aroma,  it  becomes  a source  of  the  most 
exquisite  pleasure.  In  tropical  climes  the  whole  atmosphere 
is  often  pervaded  by  precious  odors  that  daily  rise  with  the 
ambrosial  dews  from  Nature^s  great  censer.  Those  who 
inspire  the  perfumed  atmosphere  of  Ceylon,  or  are  fanned  by 
breezes  from  the  orange  groves  and  spice  fields,  may  conceive 
how  much  of  pleasure  comes  to  Man  on  the  viewless  air,  and 
through  one  of  the  lesser  avenues  that  lead  from  the  outward 
world  to  the  conscious  soul.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
while  the  sense  of  Smell  may  not  be  so  indispensable  to  the 
business  and  the  happiness  of  life  as  the  other  senses,  it  is 
far  less  likely  to  corrupt  the  character  and  the  life.  While 
sight,  hearing,  tasting,  and  feeling,  may^  offer  frequent 
occasions  to  the  tempter,  and  perchance  furnish  the  incen- 
tives to  evil,  this  sense  has  done  least  of  all  to  corrupt  the 
fountains  of  our  moral  life,  or  to  impair  the  integrity  of  our 
physical  and  spiritual  being. 

It  is  true  that  all  the  Senses  are  equally  pure  when  uncor- 
rupted by  any  abnormal  exercise,  or  excessive  indulgence ; 
but  it  does  not  follow,  on  the  one  hand,  that  all  are  equally 
essential  to  our  mental  growth  and  moral  elevation  : or,  on 


192 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  other  hand,  tliat  all  are  equally  liable— by  being  cor- 
rupted— to  impair  the  health  of  the  body  and  the  integrity 
of  the  soul.  If  in  the  general  economy  of  our  physical  being, 
Taste  is  more  important  than  the  sense  last  named,  it  is 
also  more  likely  to  be  perverted,  and  thus  to  become  a pro- 
lific source  of  evil  to  ourselves  and  others.  Indeed,  no  one 
of  the  senses  has  ever  furnished  half  so  many  occasions  for 
the  violation  of  the  laws  of  health  and  life  as  this  one  ; nor 
is  there  one  among  them  all  whose  dominion  over  human 
nature  is  at  once  so  extensive  and  so  des^radina;. 

In  some  important  sense  Feeling  may  be  regarded  as  the 
basis  of  all  our  special  sensations.  While  the  other  senses 
have  particular  organs  through  which  their  functions  are 
performed,  this  alone  is  so  widely  diffused  that  every  part  of 
the  body  has  its  electro-nervous  lines  of  communication  with 
the  brain.  The  nervous  papilhe,  of  the  skin,  though  somewhat 
unequally  distributed  over  the  entire  body,  are  numerous  in 
every  part ; and  to  the  number  of  impressible  nervous  fibers 
some  authors  have  ascribed  the  co)  a plication  as  well  as  the 
delicacy  and  intensity  of' our  sensations.  Alfred  Since,  in 
his  work  on  “ Instinct  and  Reason,”  expresses  the  conviction 
—as  the  result  of  a deliberate  calculation — that  the  liumaii 
capacity  to  appreciate  the  sounds  in  a range  of  twelve  and  a 
half  octaves,  requires  more  than  3000  nerves  to  convey  tlie 
impressions  to  the  brain.  This  may  be  a speculative  opinion ; 
but  doubtless  every  one  of  the  innumerable  sensitive  fila- 
ments— communicating  with  the  centers  of  nervous  energy 
and  reaching  the  surface  at  tlie  proper  point — lias  its  peculiar 
function  as  well  as  its  particular  place  ; and  for  aught  we 


THE  SENSES  AND  TIIEIIl  FUNCTIONS.  193 

know  to  tlio  contrary,  the  complexity  of  oiir  sensations  may 
depend  on  the  number  of  the  papillm  to  wliich  the  electrical 
excitation  from  whatever  cause  is  communicated. 

Tliis  wide ' dilfusion  of  sensibility  over  the  whole  body 
serves  as  its  most  efficient  protection.  It  is  the  shield  that 
enables  us  to  ward  off  the  shafts  of  the  destroyer,  without 
which  we  should  be  in  constant  danger  from  heat  and  cold, 
as  well  as  from  many  other  causes,  visible  and  invisible. 
Moreover,  if  feeling,  like  the  other  senses,  were  confined  to 
some  particular  organ,  other  parts  of  the  bod}^  might  be  ex- 
posed to  injury  without  our  knowledge.  But  by  a wise 
arrangement  of  the  physical  economy  of  our  being,  we  are 
enabled  to  anticipate  the  evil.  Pain,  like  a trusty  sentinel, 
guards  every  avenue  leading  to  the  citadel  of  life,  and  we 
are  faithfully  admonished  whenever  danger  is  approaching. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  nervous  system  is  a most  deli- 
cate and  complicated  telegraphic  instrument,  communicating 
in  all  directions — and  in  the  most  perfect  manner — with  the 
elements  and  objects  of  the  external  world.  Respecting  the ' 
ultimate  seat  of  sensation,  and  the  philosophy  of  the  effects 
produced  on  the  organs,  diverse  opinions  liave  been  and  are 
still  entertained.  Among  the  ancient  philosophers,  the 
Platonists  as  well  as  the  Stoics,  maintained  that  vision  de- 
pended on  rays  proceeding  from  the  eye  to  the  object ; while 
the  Epicureans  supposed  the  process  to  be  reversed,  and  that 
the  sensorial  phenomena  were  produced  by  the  images  of 
corporeal  things  reflected  to  the  eye.  In  respect  to  this 
part  of  the  process,  there  exists  a more  general  agreement 
among  modern  philosophers.  But  the  precise  seat  of  tlie 
sensation,  or  the  part  of  the  visual  organ  in  which  the 


11)4 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


images  are  formed  and  retained,  is  still  a controverted 
question.  The  common  opinion  that  the  retina  arrests  and 
holds  the  images  of  outward  objects,  has  been  boldly  ques- 
tioned since  Mariotte  accidentally  discovered  that  the  optic 
nerve,  at  its  base,  is  insensible  to  light.  This  discovery 
led  the  author  to  the  conclusion  that  the  seat  of  vision  is  in 
the  choroid  coat ; and  as  that  is  opaque,  while  the  retina  is 
transparent,  his  conclusion  has  been  favored  by  other  philos- 
ophers, and  by  certain  observations  of  Sir  David  Brewster. 
M.  Lehot  held  that  the  vitreous  humor  is  the  seat  of  vision, 
but  without  furnishing  such  evidence  in  support  of  his 
opinion  as  scientific  observers  require  to  establish  a rational 
conviction. 

Without  proceeding  further  witii  the  citation  and  dis- 
cussion of  the  opinions  of  material  philosophers,  whose 
minute  dissection  of  the  organs,  and  classification  of  their 
functions,  have  failed  to  determine  the  ultimate  seat  of  any 
one  of  the  senses,  I will  now  offer  some  general  suggestions 
toward  an  explanation — on  electrical  principles — of  the 
sensational  processes,  as  they  occur  in  animal  and  human 
bodies.  In  some  of  the  preceding  Chapters,  the  writer  had 
occasion  to  show  that  Vital  Electricity  is  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  nervous  system,  and  the  active  agent  in  the 
processes  of  organic  chemistry,  and  in  all  vital  and  muscular 
motion.  The  facts  cited  to  prove  that  animal  electricity 
performs  this  important  office  in  the  organic  functions,  need 
not  be  repeated  in  this  connection.  But  it  should  be  ob- 
served that  if  tliis  subtile  principle  is  the  circulating  medium 
of  the  nerves,  it  is  the  proximate  agent  of  sensation,  as  well 
MS  of  motion.  This  conclusion  is  rendered  j)robable  by  tlie 


THE  SENSES  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS.  1 

nature  of  our  sensations,  and  coiifirmed  by  various  experi- 
ments in  vital  electricity,  some  of  which  have  already  been 
cited  in  the  present  treatise  on  Man  and  his  Relations. 

I have  only  space  sufficient  for  a very  brief,  general,  and 
necessarily  imperfect  statement  of  the  electrical  theory  of 
sensation.  The  rays  of  light  reflected  from  the  surfaces  of 
outward  objects  to  the  eye,  disturb  or  move  the  sensorial 
medium  on  the  optic  nerve,  through  which  the  electrical  ex- 
citation is  instantly  conveyed  to  the  sensorium.  The  undu- 
latory  motion  of  the  air — or  the  vibrations  of  some  more 
Bubtile  medium  that  pervades  the  atmosphere — occasions  a 
similar  electric  action  on  the  minute  terminations  of  the 
auditory  nerve,  which  are  freely  distributed  over  the  delicate 
membrane  that  lines  the  internal  cavities  of  the  ear.  Odors 
in  like  manner  excite  the  electric  aura  that  pervades  the 
nervous  filaments  of  the  olfactory  surfaces.  We  determine 
the  presence  of  certain  properties  of  matter  by  the  sense  of 
Taste^  the  electro-nervous  excitement  in  this  case  occurring 
on  the  delicate  papillm  of  the  tongue,  and  are  thence  com- 
municated to  the  brain.  Moreover,  each  papilla  in  the  true 
skin  marks  the  termination  of  some  sensatory  nerve,  and  a 
point  from  which  impressions  from  the  external  world  may 
be  electrically  transmitted  to  the  mind. 

Alfred  Since,  in  the  course  of  his  biological  experiments, 
observed  that  the  voltaic  force  was  moved  in  the  nerves  of 
animals  when  a proper  stimulant  was  applied  to  the  organs 
of  sensation  ; and  he  maintained  that  by  the  use  of  an  in- 
strument, designed  for  that  purpose,  he  could  readily  convey 
“ a knowledge  of  the  presence  of  an  odor  to  an  adjoining 
room.”  He  also  made  an  artificial  tongue,  by  filling  a Y-tube 


196 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


with  a solution  of  salt  in  water,  and  placing  a platinum  wire 
in  the  solution  at  each  end  of  the  tube.  With  this  simple 
instrument,  the  savor  of  meat,  and  other  articles  of  diet  may 
be  conveyed  through  the  metallic  nerve  from  one  apart- 
ment to  another.  The  same  writer  gives  the  results  of 
similar  experimental  illustrations  of  the  sense  of  Feeling.  A 
brief  extract  will  more  clearly  indicate  the  nature  of  his 
claims,  founded  on  the  results  of  his  curious  experiments  : 

The  sense  of  -tact  is  a sense  of  bodily  changes  ; but'  the  nerves  which 
carry  the  knowledge  are  probably  placed  close  to  the  skin.  * * There 

is  no  experiment  more  easy  in  Electro-biology  than  to  prove  that  the 
mechanism  for  this  transmission  of  impressions  is  voltaic.  I have  ascertained 
the  fact  in  cats,  rabbits,  eels,  birds,  and  other  creatures,  over  and  over  again 
A physical  mechanism  may  be  readily  made  (upon  voltaic  principles)  which 
shall  be  excited  by  variations  of  temperature,  and  which  shall  convey  the 
impressions  to  a distance.”  ^ 

I have  thus  briefly  discussed  the  nature  and  the  organic 
functions  of  the  Senses,  in  their  relations  to  the  body  and  to 
this  world.  As  their  higher  relations  to  the  spirit,  and  to 
the  immortal  life  and  world,  do  not  properly  belong  to  tlie 
oresent  volume,  it  will  be  perceived  that  we  liave  reached 
the  appropriate  termination  of  the  present  Chapter. 


1 Instinct  and  Reason,  p.  40. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 

Atmospheres  of  Worlds  and  of  all  Living  Beings — Physical  Elements  and 
Moral  Forces — The  Soul-measuring  power — Characteristics  discovered  in 
the  subtle  effluence  from  the  Human  Mind — Dr.  Buchanan’s  earlier  Investi- 
gations— How  Psychometry  was  regarded  by  the  Faculty— Discovery  of 
Crimes  and  detection  of  Criminals — Important  experiments  on  the  brain — 
The  Author’s  experimental  tests — Psychometric  powers  of  Mrs.  Mettler — 
Miss  Parson’s  graphic  pictures  of  distinguished  characters — Translation 
of  Ancient  Mysteries — Consecrated  Places — Revelations  to  the  Inward 
Sense. 


“ And  shadows  of  all  forms  of  life  and  thought, 

Moved  through  the  solemn  temple  of  the  soul.” 

A VARIETY  of  curious  phenomena  contribute  to  estab- 
lish the  general  fact,  that  both  animals  and  men  leave 
subtile  emanations  from  their  bodies  in  all  places  which  they 
have  previously  occupied.  Every  they  have  touched 

is  pervaded  by  the  invisible  effltem^,  and  ©very  sensitive 
nature  feels  its  presence.  Thus  the  dog  is  enal^ed  to  pursue 
the  deer  for  hours  without  once  seeing  the  game, 'following 
all  the  while  by  scenting,  or  otherwise  perceiving  The  aroma 
from  his  footsteps.  In  like  manner  he  finds  his  master  in  a 
crowd,  'or  pursues  him  with  an  unerring  certainty  when  he  is 
far  from  home.  Doubtless  the  dog  discovers  traces  of  otiior 
animals  and  of  men  by  subtile  emanations  from  their  bodie.<, 


198 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


wilicli  pervade  tliG  earth  and  air.  These  aromal  esseiicOvS 
appear  to  reach  the  animal  sensorium  througli  the  olfactory 
surfaces,  though  this  is  by  no  means  certain,  inasmuch  as  the 
instincts  of  some  animals  likewise  enable  them  to  perceive 
danger,  when  the  causes  are  but  indirectly,  and,  perhaps, 
very  remotely  related  to  living  men  and  beasts.  The  dog 
has  been  known  to  exhibit  great  uneasiness  when  liis  master 
was  exposed  to  accident  from  secret  snares  and  pit-falls.  In 
places  where  bloody  deeds  were  long  since  perpetrated,  ani- 
mals have  been  known  to  manifest  signs  of  extreme  fear. 
In  these  respects  it  is  alleged  that  the  instinct  of  the  horse 
is  scarcely  less  mysterious  and  reliable  than  that  of  the  dog. 
From  the  Scriptural  account  of  Balaam’s  peculiar  experi- 
ence, it  would  appear  that  even  the  stupid  beast  on  which  he 
rode  was  endowed  with  clearer  perceptions  than  many  men, 
and  that  he  was  a far  better  discerner  of  spiritual  things 
than  the  false  prophet  himself. 

All  worlds  have  their  atmospheres  ; and  the  more  subli- 
mated elements  in  the  organic  forms  of  the  living  creation 
are  exhaled  like  the  incense  of  flowers.  Tliose  ethereal 
essences  are  invisible  ; but  they  are  not  less  substantial  in 
their  essential  nature,  while  they  are  far  more  powerful  in 
their  silent  a^^n.  Indeed,  all  the  more  potent  agents  in 
the  natur^^  xTd-^y:e  invisible  save  in  their  effects.  Every 
one  of  tlj,.  simple  elements  is  represented  in  the  great  atmo- 
spheric sea  that  surrounds  our  orb  ; and  even  the  densest 
forms  of  matter  arc  susceptible  of  being  so  widely  diffu^^gd 
•so'^  finely  attenuated,  as  to  become  impalpable  and  im- 
ponderable.  Immersed  in  this  ethereal  ocean — composed  of 
subtile  emanations  from  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants — we 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


199 


arc  constantly  liable  to  be  influenced  by  intellectual  powers 
and  moral  qualities  as  well  as  by  physical  elements  and 
forces.  A man  with  an  infectious  disease  certainly  can  not 
appear  in  our  streets  and  other  public  places,  without  endan- 
gering the  health  of  many  citizens,  by  the  morbid  and  pesti- 
lential emanations  from  his  body.  Nor  are  the  principles 
and  laws  which  govern  the  mental  and  moral  economy  of 
human  nature  less  potent  and  unerring.  We  may  be  sure 
that,  whenever  a moral  pestilence — endowed  with  person- 
ality and  locomotion — is  permitted  to  appear  in  the  market- 
place, the  social  circle,  or  the  sanctuary,  there  is  an  accom- 
panying influence  that  inevitably  lowers  the  general  tone  of 
society,  and  the  moral  health  of  the  community  is  impaired. 
The  electro-magnetic  emanations  from  such  persons  possess 
all  the  qualities  of  the  constitutions  from  which  they  pro- 
ceed ; and  the  uufortilied  ones,  who  come  within  ^the  phy- 
sical, mental  and  moral  atmospheres  of  such  people,  are 
liable  to  be  corrupted.  The  capacity  for  original  and 
vigorous  thought,  the  common  sentiment,  and  all  noble  reso- 
lutions may  thus  be  enfeebled  and  depraved. 

Persons  of  acute  mental  perceptions  and  exquisite  moral 
sensibilities,  detect  the  essential  attributes  and  peculiar  char- 
acteristics of  others  as  soon  as  they  are  fairly  within  the 
charmed  circle  of  their  atmospheric  emanations.  Most  men 
and  women  of  cultivated  minds  and  refined  habits  have  an 
intuitive  consciousness  of  the  fundamental  differences  in  the 
minds  and  morals  of  persons  whom  they  meet,  in  social  life 
and  in  the  transactions  of  business.  Every  public  speaker  is 
conscious  of  being  influenced  by  the  subtile  emanations  from 
the  multitude.  These  are  so  dissimilar,  at  diverse  tinges  and 


20p 


MAN  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


places,  that  on  one  occasion  the  orator  may  experience  an 
unusual  mental  illumination — enabling  him  to  rise  into  the 
highest  heaven  of  thought — while  under  other  circumstances 
an  oppressive  influence,  like  a leaden  weight,  rests  on  all  his 
faculties.  Sometimes  the  mere  presence  of  a stranger,  with 
^vhom  we  have  never  spoken,  inspires  the  mind  and  heart 
jwith  serene  and  pleasurable  emotions,  while  others  make 
^us  restless  and  unhappy.  Some  people  carry  along  with 
them  a strange  suggestive  power,  whereby  they  impregnate 
our  souls.  '^Under  their  influence  the  mind  suddenly  becomes 
prolific  ; our  faculties  are  excited,  and  we  are  drawn  out  in 
conversation  ; while  at  the  approach  of  other  persons,  we 
instinctively  retire  within  ourselves.  Their  frigid  or  fiery 
natures  shut  up  the  avenues  to  the  sensitive  mind  and  heart, 
as  the  cold  night  winds  close  the  flowers  ; or  we  are  made 
to  feel  that  they  come  but  to  consume  us  with  their  burning 
breath,  and  the  desolating  storm  of  unbridled  passions.^ 

The  atmosphere  is  a principal  vehicle  whereby  not  only 
the  pure  aromas  of  the  flowers,  but  also  the  grossest  ex- 
halations from  diseased  bodies  and  unhealthy  locations,  are 
widely  dilTused.  The  impregnation  of  the  vital  air,  by  un- 
wholesome emanations  from  corrupt  forms  and  miasmatic 
districts,  renders  this  great  fountain  of  life  and  health  the 
most  efflcient  agent  in  spreading  contagion  and  death.  Tlie 
invisible  agents  of  infection  arc  carried  in  every  direction 
by  the  atmospheric  currents.  Thus  certain  maladies  become 
epidemic,  and  great  cities  arc  devastated  by  the  pestilence. 
In  like  manner  every  human  being  who  has  a sound  con- 
stitution and  unimpaired  health,  contributes  to  energize  tlie 
springs  of  life  in  all  who  approach  him.  Sensitive  persons 


rsyCIIOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


201 


immediately  feel  the  sustaining  magnetism  of  his  presence. 
This  is  sometimes  sufficient  to  relieve  severe  pain  ; to  make 
the  weak  man  suddenly  strong  ; and  not  unfrequently  has 
this  normal  magnetie  power  equalized  the  vital  forees,  and 
thus  harmonized  the  organic  functions  of  persons  who  were 
completely  prostrated  by  disease.  If  we  reflect  that  a single 
grain  of  musk,  or  other  diffusible  aromatic,  may  completely 
permeate  an  immense  volume  of  common  air — so  as  to  be 
perceived  through  an  outward  avenue  of  sensation — we  shall 
scareely  attempt  to  determine  how  far  the  invisible  emana- 
tions from  men  and  angels  may  extend  ; nor  shall  we  pre- 
sume to  fix  limits  to  their  subtle  influence  on  the  faeulties  of 
the  human  mind  or  the  funetions  of  animal  existence. 

Moreover,  the  principles  involved  in  this  part  of  my 
subject  might  be  forcibly  illustrated  by  appeals  to  ancient 
history  and  modern  experience.  But  it  is  not  my  purpose 
to  occupy  space  and  the  reader’s  attention  with  a citation  of 
accredited  facts,  though  many  such  might  be  derived  from 
the  annals  of  the  Church.  It  is  recorded  that  a surprising 
virtue  went  out  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  restored  a 
woman  who  merely  “ touched  the  hem  of  his  garment.”  W e 
have  witnessed  cures  that  were  scarcely  less  remarkable,  and 
it  is  time  for  us  to  attempt  something  like  a rational  esti- 
mate of  the  importance  of  these  subtle  principles  in  the 
present  economy,  and  the  ultimate  issues  of  human  existence. 
Tlie  subjeci;  is  not  only  interesting  to  the  metaphysical 
philosopher,  but  viewed  in  its  moral  and  practical  relations 
and  aspects,  it  is  one  of  vast  importance.  The  man  wlio 
passes  along  the  highway,  changes  the  vital  elements  of  the 
very  air  we  breathe  by  the  emanations  from  his  body  ami 


202 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


mind  ; the  persons  who  prepare  your  food  or  share  youi 
couch,  modify  all  the  conditions  of  being  ; while  the  friends 
at  the  table  and  the  fireside  each  exert  a power  for  good  or 
ill  that  remains  long  after  tlie  guests  have  departed. 

The  capacity  of  certain  impressible  persons  to  perceive,  by 
an  exquisite  power  of  cognition,  or  semi-spiritual  sensation, 
the  general  and  particular  characteristics  of  distant  and  un 
known  persons,  by  merely  holding  their  autographs  in  the 
hand,  or  against  the  forehead,  has  been  demonstrated  to  the 
satisfaction  of  numerous  experimental  observers.  It  was 
about  the  year  1842,  that  Joseph  R.  Buchanan,  M.  D.,  widely 
known  as  a free,  fearless,  and  philosophical  investigator — 
commenced  his  public  lectures  on  Psychometry  and  other 
subjects  embraced  in  his  neurological  system  of  Anthro- 
pology. He  was,  unquestionably,  the  first  really  scientific 
man  who  attempted  to  commend  the  revelations  of  the  psy- 
chometric sense  to  the  schools  and  the  several  learned  pro- 
fessions. But  in  his  intelligent  and  noble  efforts  to  enligliten 
alike  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  he  derived  but  little 
encouragement  from  the  former.  Professional  pride  often 
stands  in  tlie  way  of  honest  convictions,  and  rarely  permits 
a generous  cooperation.  Even  the  members  of  the  Medical 
Profession — among  whom  Dr.  Buchanan  is  a conspicuous 
light — were  little  disposed  to  treat  the  subject  with  the 
respect  it  deserved,  and  the  candor  that  will  be  found  to 
characterize  every  disinterested  seeker  after  truth.  Jbit  in 
the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Forry  of  New  York,  Dr.  Caldwell  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  and  the  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Indiana, 
Dr.  Buchanan  met  with  honorable  exceptions.  While  many 
iiide[)ei)dcnt  minds  became  interested  in  his  psychoinetrical 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


203 


experiments,  our  recognized  authorities  in  science,  with  rare 
exceptions,  thought  too  much  of  reputation  and  ease,  and  too 
little  of  the  truth,  to  venture  into  new  lields  of  investiga- 
tion.^ Among  those  who  manifested  at  that  early  period  a 
becoming  interest  in  the  subject,  were  several  literary  and 
scientific  gentlemen  in  the  city  of  New  York,  who  served  on 
a committee  of  investigation,  and  reported  through  their 
chairman.  Dr.  Forry,  that  they  had  sufficient  evidence  to 

‘ The  Utopian  anticipation  that  anv  great  truths  would  be  received  at 
once,  merely  because  they  had  been  logically  or  practically  demonstrated,  is 
speedily  annihilated  b}"^  experience  and  observation.  Under  our  unphilo- 
sophical  systems  of  education,  pure  reason  is  but  little  cultivated  ; and  in 
the  daily  course  of  life  there  is  so  little  dispassionate  reasoning,  compared 
with  the  great  number  of  acts  proceeding  from  habit  and  the  impulses  of  feel- 
ing, guided  only  by  simple  perception,  that  an  appeal  to  pure  reason  is  well 
known  to  be  a very  inefficient  mode  of  guiding  or  convincing  mankind.  Preju- 
dice, association,  example,  and  a misconceived  self-interest,  will  blind  the 
leading  classes  of  society  to  the  most  palpable  truths.  The  facts  of  Animal 
Magnetism,  and  especially  clau’voyance,  after  being  demonstrated  before 
scientific  medical  committees,  in  Paris,  and  before  tens  of  thousands,  if  not 
millions,  of  intelligent  observers,  throughout  the  civilized  world,  are  still 
contemptuously  ignored  or  rejected  by  the  leading  medical  authors  and  re- 
viewers, without  any  conscientious  inquiry  into  the  reality  of  such  facts. 
They  are  simply  dismissed,  with  a sneer,  without  honest  argument  or  inquiry, 
with  a vehement  scorn  of  human  intelligence  and  human  veracity,  which 
might  be  appropriate  in  a convict  steeped  in  vice,  but  which  is  inexcusable 
in  the  members  of  a scientific  profession,  and  still  more  in  those  who  aspire 
to  be  the  leaders  of  human  thought.  That  demoralizing  and  soul-hardening 
philosophy  which  treats  the  human  race  as  a vast  assemblage  of  knaves  and 
fools,  from  which  no  word  of  truth  should  be  expected,  and  whose  testimony 
is  utterly  inadmissible  in  science,  has  so  long  ruled  the  high  places  of  the 
medical  profession,  that  it  is  vain  to  expect  its  abolition  in  the  present  gen- 
eration ; and  under  such  a system  it  is  vain  to  expect,  in  the  authoritative 
quarters  of  the  profession,  the  recognition  of  any  wonderful  facts  when  their 
supporting  testimony  is  rejected,  and  tlie  parties  who  reject  conclusive  evi- 
dence either  totally  refuse  to  make  any  investigation  themselves,  or  enter 
upon  it  with  a dogmatic  and  stubborn  party  spirit,  determined  to  sustain  their 
own  foregone  conclusions. — Introduction  to  Buchanan's  Neurological  system  of 
Anthropology.  1 ^ 


204 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


satisfy  them  that  Dr.  Buchanan^ s views  have  a rational  ex- 
perimental foundation,  and  that  the  subject  opens  a field  of 
investigation  second  to  no  other  in  immediate  interest,  and  in 
promise  of  important  f uture  results  to  science  and  humanity:' 
While  Dr.  BuchaRan’s  observations  and  experiments  con- 
stitute the  more  important  elements  in  the  early  history  o£ 
Psychometry,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  fundamental  facts 
and  laws  which  the  subject  involves  were  discovered  some 
time  before  the  commencement  of  his  investigations.  The 
early  experimenters  in  Animal  Magnetism  did  not  fail  to 
observe  that  persons  of  acute  sensibility  were  enabled  to 
establish  a sympathetic  rapjDort  with  otliers  at  a distance,  by 
holding  a lock  of  hair,  an  article  of  clothing,  or  a finger-ring 
which  the  absent  party  had  worn  ; or,  indeed,  by  taking  in 
the  hand  any  small  article  of  personal  property  that  had 
been  in  contact  with  the  body.  While  the  impressions 
made  on  the  mind  of  the  sensitive  investigator,  in  such  cases, 
were  perhaps  mainly  derived  from  the  organic,  physiological 
and  pathological  conditions  of  the  person  under  examina- 
tion, still  it  can  not  be  denied  that  a mysterious  soul-measur- 
ing faculty  was  frequently  displayed.  The  diagnosis  some- 
times comprehended  the  mental  and  moral,  as  well  as  tlic 
physical  conditions  of  the  subject.  Crimes  and  criminals 
were  occasionally  discovered  in  this  way.  The  smallest 
fragment  of  a cravat,  worn  by  a thief,  would  liold  liim  fast ; 
a sliirt  was  a better  means  of  detection  than  a sherilf  ; and 
an  old  shoe  would  suffice  to  put  the  sensitive  explorer  on  tlie 
track  of  those  who  were  either  concealed,  absent  or  lost. 
^Vhen  the  search  resulted  in  linding  the  object,  not  only 
])hv;:ical  conditions  end  s})ccific  localities  could  be  described 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


205 


and  pointed  out,  but  the  memory  became  an  open  book,  that 
could  be  read  in  the  darkness  of  midnight  ; the  unspoken 
tlioughts  of  men  were  mysteriously  revealed  ; and  the  most 
secret  purposes  were  disclosed  before  time  had  afforded  an 
opportunity  for  their  actual  accomplishment.  This  capacity 
to  discover  the  measure  and  to  define  the  limits  of  the 
mental  and  moral  powers,  did  not  necessarily  depend  on  in- 
formation derived  from  autography.  Similar  information 
was  otlierwise  conveyed  to  the  mind  through  the  channels  of 
psychometric  perception ; and  thus  the  organic  combinations, 
the  peculiar  moods,  and  the  superficial  aspects  of  the  human 
faculties,  affections  and  passions,  were  clearly  revealed. 

The  fact  that  accurate  pathological  information  was  con- 
veyed through  the  processes  already  described,  was  quite 
sufficient  to  warrant  the  presumption  that  a know  ledge  of  the 
mental  exercises  and  moral  qualities  of  the  individual  might 
be  obtained  in  a similar  manner.  If  the  ordinaiy  emanations 
from  the  body  indicated  the  existing  states  of  the  several 
organs,  it  was  reasonable  to  infer  that  a thought,  expressed 
through 'the  nerves  of  voluntary  motion,  would  possibly  carry 
along  w'ith  it  to  the  paper  a subtile  principle  wdiich  might 
serve  as  an  index  to  the  whole  character,  or  a key  to  all  the 
treasures  of  the  mind.  And  this  amazing  suggestion  has 
been  literally  verified  by  numberless  experiments  ! Dr.  Bu-[ 
chanan  claims  to  have  demonstrated  the  fact  that  a subtile] 
aura,  in  some  respects  distinct  and  peculiar,  proceeds  from 
every  separate  organ  of  the  brain,  and  records  in  invisible 
but  ineffaceable  lines,  the  essential  nature  and  precise  measure 
of  each  mental  manifestation.  Having  placed  one  end  of  a 
metallic  conductor  in  the  liand  of  a very  sensitive  subject,  he 


206 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


proceeded  to  touch  the  different  organs  of  the  brain  of 
another  person  with  the  opposite  end  of  the  conductor, 
through  which  diO  influence — proceeding  from  the  organic 
action  of  the  separate  faculties — was  transmitted  with  such 
force  and  distinctness  as  to  be  clearly  perceived  by  the 
psjchometer,  though  he  was  not  allowed  to  see  what  por- 
tions of  the  brain  were  touched. 

When  the  multitudes  are  divided  between  unreasoning 
skepticism  on  one  side  and  blind  credulity  on  the  other,  the 
friends  of  a recently  discoverd  truth  are  fortunate  if  they 
have  a representative  qualified  by  nature  and  education,  to 
conduct  a scientific  investigation  of  a new  subject  with 
candor  and  discrimination.  Dr.  Buchanan  did  not  fail  to 
exliibit  the  requisite  qualifications — neither  rejecting  facts 
when  they  were  new  and  strange,  nor  yet  rashly  accepting 
results  because  they  were  specious,  while  there  remains  a 
chance  to  prove  that  they  may  have  been  chimerical. 

The  ability  to  discern  the  real  character  of  persons,  by 
merely  holding  a letter  against  the  forehead,  certainly  re- 
veals a faculty  that  may  be  frequently  employed  with  great 
practical  advantage.  Language  is  often  used  to  conceal 
the  essential  character  and  real  intentions  of  the  speaker  or 
writer ; but  the  psychometrical  power  penetrates  the  frail 
disguise.  With  the  aid  of  a simple  autograpii  tlic  soul- 
measurer  lifts  the  moral  visor,  strikes  down  the  glittering 
hield,  and  reveals  the  naked  falsehood  that  lurked  behind. 
As  the  subject  does  not  appear  to  call  for  a statement  of 
illustrative  facts  and  experiments,  recorded  at  lengtii,  the 
circumstantial  details  may  be  omitted.  A brief  reference  to 
the  following  examples  will  suffice  to  show  that,  not  only  the 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


207 


general  character  and  habits  of  thought  are  revealed  by  the 
psychometrical  process,  but  the  temporary  moods  of  the 
mind,  the  existing  thoughts  and  the  present  action  are  liable 
to  cast  their  shadows  over  the  sensitive  soul.  While  Mrs. 
Mettler  was  holding  a sealed  letter  from  Dr.  Buchanan — 
who  was  at  that  time  editing  the  Journal  of  Man — she 
declared  that  the  chief  study  of  the  writer  was  ‘‘  Man,  in  his 

lohole  natiireJ  When  an  envelope  inclosing  some  stanzas 

/ 

written  by  a convict,  was  placed  in  her  hand,  she  observed, 
that  the  author  had  a double  character — the  sphere  was 
unpleasant,  but  that  the  person  could  “ ivrite  'poetry  tolerably 
wellJ  A letter  written  by  Kossuth,  immediately  after  the 
delivery  of  a powerful  speech  in  St.  Louis,  caused  her  to  ges- 
ticulate as  if  she  'were  addressing  a multitude,  and  this  tvas 
foUoived  by  a feeling  of  extreme  exhaustion.  The  letter  of 
an  insane  man,  who  had  killed  his  own  child,  occasioned 
sympathetic  delirium  and  convulsions.  Some  irregular 
pencil  lines  and  scratches,  traced  by  the  hand  of  an  infant 
child  gave  m impression.  A very  delicate  picture  on  silk — 
painted  by  Miss  Thomas,  of  Edwardsburg,  Mich.,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  writer — was  handed  to  Mrs.  M.,  under  the 
cover  of  a sealed  envelope,  whereupon  she  affirmed  that  the 
autlior  of  the  contents  of  the  envelope  had  painted  her  idea, 
instead  of  expressing  it  in  words. 

Twelve  years  since  the  present  writer  published  a number 
of  mental  and  moral  portraits  of  distinguished  persons  in  the 
Univercoelum.  They  were  living  pictures,  drawn  with  re- 
markable strength,  beauty  and  fidelity,  by  Miss  Parsons,  of 
Boston.  When  a letter,  written  at  Chelsea,  England — by 
Thomas  Carlyie--was  handed  to  Miss  P.,  she  said,  “ The 


208 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sea  is  not  far  ofi' ; or  a thought  of  the  sea  is  in  his  mind.’’ 
When  her  hand  was  unconsciously  resting  on  the  autograph 
of  Washington  Allston,  she  pronounced  his  name.  A letter 
from  Ole  Bull  produced  great  exaltation  of  feeling.  For 
some  time  she  appeared  to  be  immersed  in  a sea  of  music,  as 
a few  lines  from  her  word-picture  of  the  inspired  Norwegian 
will  plainly  indicate.  On  clasping  the  letter  in  her  hand, 
she  at  once  exclaimed  : 

Impetuous  and  enthusiastic  ! * * He  seems  to  me  to  be  all  soul,  yet 

all  expression.  I would  be  breathless  and  listen — I would  have  perfect  si- 
lence about  me.  I can  not  bear  to  hear  my  own  voice,  it  is  so  discordant. 
Language  is  so  stiff,  and  cold,  and  harsh  ! Oh ! could  you  but  hear  the  stars 
as  they  roll  to  music — the  flowers  as  they  grow — the  rythm  of  the  streams  and 
birds ! This  exquisite  music  calls  up  such  adoration  1 This  man  tvorsMps. 
At  first  he  is  absorbed  in  prayer  : then  he  is  silent  and  solemn  ; and  self  is 
\o^tm  the  Infinite.’’^  * * * 


While  Thomas  L.  Harris  was  employed  in  the  improvisation 
of  his  “ Epic  of  the  Starry  Heaven,”  I made  an  experiment 
in  Psychometry  (in  the  presence  of  several  witnesses),  which 
was  attended  with  surprising  results.  Mr.  H.  was  one  day 
under  a foreign  intelligent  inllueuce,  purporting  to  be  spir- 
itual, and  was  irresistibly  impelled  to  write  the  name,  Dante. 
The  slip  of  paper,  bearing  the  name  of  tlie  great  Florentine 
poet,  being  properly  inclosed,  was  })laced  in  tlie  hands  ol 
Mrs.  Mettler.  At  first  she  exhibited  emotions  of  sadness  and 
grief.  Then  rising  and  walking  toward  a remote  corner  of 
the  apartment — her  eyes  being  closed — she  appeared  to  hold 
converse  with  invisible  beings.  She  paused  and  seemed 
looking  at  objects  bencatli.  Her  whole  frame  sliook  spas- 
modically, and  the  facial  muscles  were  distorted  and  con- 
vulsed, as  if  frightful  images  were  presented  to  lier  vision. 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTION. 


209 


At  length  she  spoke  with  uncommon  emphasis,  and  in  a strain 
that  led  those  of  the  company  who  were  acquainted  with 
Dante’s  history  to  think  tliat  she  was  literally  immersed  in 
the  poet’s  mental  atmosphere  ; and  that  visions  of  his  earth- 
life  and  of  the  Divina  Commedia  were  passing  before  her. 

But  tlie  historic  and  other  extraordinary  characters  arc 
not  the  only  ones  that  exert  an  influence  on  human  affairs, 
long  after  the  earthly  drama  of  life  is  over.  / Every  man 
leaves  a record  that  time  can  not  obliterate^  Every  worM 
of  the  individual  heart  and  hands  is  an  enduring  monument 
of  his  soul’s  ideal  ; and  his  moral  image  is  indelibly  stamped, 
on  everything  which  his  thought,  affection  or  passion  have 
prompted  him  to  touch.  The  conclusion  is  startling,  but’ 
inevitable.  It  is,  moreover,  full  of  beautiful  suggestions, 
useful  instruction,  and  solemn  warning.  Every  secret  act  is^ 
recorded,  and  may  be  openly  reviewed  by  those  who  shall  p 
come  after  us.  It  has  been  proved  by  experiment  that  the 
vital  and  mental  influences  which  emanated  from  the  actual  i 
life  and  thought  of  the  buried  nations,  still  lingers  about 
the  enchanted  ruins.  The  psychometer  may  decipher  the 
hieroglyphics  on  the  ancient  tombs  and  tqmples,  and  thus  | 
interpret  the  spirit  of  bygone  ages.  In  this  way  we  may  ^ 
yet  learn  respecting  the  ancients  what  History  did  not 
chronicle.  While  we  are  daily  preparing  the  life  record,  ^ 
that  to-morrow  may  be  submitted  to  this  searching  ordeal, 
it  may  be  profitable  to  consider  that  wherever  we  go,  and  in  i 
all  that  we  do,  we  either  grope  in  darkness,  among  the  thorn 
we  have  planted,  or  we  walk  in  light,  scattering  fresh  flowers  [ 
by  the  wayside,  to  cheer  and  bless  those  who  may  succeed  us 
in  the  journey  of  life.  / 


210 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


/ • 


The  idea  of  the  ancients,  that  certain  localities  were  es- 
pecially consecrated,  was  not  all  fanciful.  It  is  well  known 
that  in’  those  places  where  spiritually-minded  persons  are 
accustomed  to  meet  frequently  for  social  and  sacred  pur- 
poses, certain  invisible  powers  manifest  their  presence  with 
far  greater  freedom  and  in  a more  tangible  manner.  Where 
true  hearts  meet  and  are  united  in  pure  affection  ; where 
great  thoughts  shine  out  from  the  temples  of  the  mind ; 
where  the  aspirations  of  congenial  souls  mingle  and  ascend 
in  spiritual  worship,  then,  and  there^  will  kindred  natures 
from  the  Inner  Temple  assemble,  and  the  place  will  be  con- 
secrated by  their  presence.  Their  divine  emanations  fall  on 
the  altar  of  the  heart  and  quicken  the  latent  powers  of  tlie 
worshiper.  Thus,  by  the  law  of  spiritual  attraction,  the 
powers  of  the  immortal  world  may  assemble  in  such  places 
as  are  consecrated  by  pure  love  and  devotion,  by  noble 
deeds  and  sacred  associations. j They  walked  by  the  haunted 
streams  ; they  met  the  old  Druids  in  the  solemn  forests,  and 
appeared  in  the  lonely  mountains  by  the  altars  of  the  ancient 
Prophets. 

When  one  is  gifted  with  a keen  psychometric  sense,  he  at 
once  perceives  the  nature  of  the  emanations  from  Ids  visitors, 
whether  they  are  visible  or  invisible.  If  lie  enters  the 
haunts  of  deception  and  vice,  clouds  darken  the  spiritual 
vision,  and  ho  finds  the  trail  of  the  serpent  in  his  way. 
Those  who  are  distinguished  for  their  exquisite  suscepti- 
bility, seldom  fail  to  perceive  the  general  sphoi*o  of  the 
liouses  they  enter.  Not  unfrequontly  are  these  i)sycliometric 
impressions,  or  intuitive  revelations,  made  as  soon  as  they 
cross  the  throsliold.  Sometimes  liarsli  discords  fall  on  the 


PSYCHOMETRIC  PERCEPTIOJi. 


211 

inner  sense,  and  the  nerves  vibrate  under  the  painful  pres- 
sure of  domestic  and  social  antagonisms.  But  the  man- 
sions of  domestic  peace  and  true  fidelity  of  soul,  disclose 
Elysian  fields  of  the  aifections,  where  the  Angels  walk 
in  light,  or  recline  amid  scenes  of  blissful  repose.  The  j 
senses  are  all  refined  and  exalted  by  a pure  moral  and  spir- 1 
itual  atmosphere.  Every  object  seems  to  be  pervaded  by  a 
subtile,  mysterious  power,  that  gently  sweeps  the  inmost 
chords  of  being.  We  feel  that  we  are  in  one  of  the  conse- 
crated places.  The  lively  sense  that  elsewhere  revealed  the 

serpent’s  trail,  here  finds  the  radiant  footsteps  of  celestial  ^ 

/ 

visitors  and  heavenly  emanations  that  make  the  place  holy. 

“ The  pure  in  heart”  meet  and  dwell  in  lieavenly  places. 
Angels  stand  by  them  in  their  transfigured  beauty,  and  sur-/ 
round  the  loving  heart  with  a sphere  that  is  full  of  light  and  ■ 
melody.  They  come  to  lead  the  weary  pilgrim  from  the  rude 
scenes  of  outer  life  and  consciousness,  to  mansions  of  inward 
rest.  They  leave  their  pure  emanations  behind  Avhen  they 
depart.  Every  earthly  object  they  have  touched  is  made 
luminous,  and  continues  to  scintillate  with  star-like  radiations. 
To  the  spiritual  eye  their  very  foot-prints  are  visible  in  the 
lighten  the  floor.  The  glory  of  their  presence  dissipates  the 
darkness  of  the  world  ; their  smiles  dissolve  the  frosts  of 
years ; tliey  restore  the  spring-time  of  the  affections,  and 
make  life’s  barren  wastes  bloom  like  the  gardens  of  Paradise. 
While  I write  I am  insphered  in  music,  soft  and  soothing  as 
the  gentlest  strains  from  ^olia,  when  the  expiring  winds 
whisper  their  last  benison  to  the  trembling  chords  of  the 
Lyre. 


CHAPTER  XVni. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATION. 

I 

Isolation  impossible — The  democracy  of  Nature — The  Elements  impressive 
Teachers — All  bodies  have  their  Atmospheres — Reciprocal  interchange  ot 
Elements — Universal  Relations,  Causes  and  Effects — Pov^er  of  Fascination 
directed  to  specific  Objects — Examples  of  Charming — Birds  fascinated  by 
Serpents — Case  of  a Child  near  Gilbert’s  Mills — An  illustration  from 
Vaillant’s  Travels  in  Africa— Opinion  of  Dr.  Newman — Serpent  Charmers 
of  India — The  Laplander’s  power  over  his  Dogs — Sullivan  and  Rarey,  the 
Horse-tamers — Fascination  of  Birds  by  a Belgian  Beauty — Man  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  World  - A lecture  at  Putnam-— A Canine  illustration. 

I 

COMPLETE  isolation  is  never  one  of  the  conditions  ot 
being.  The  elements  exist  together,  and  are  modified  by 
mutual  association  and  action.  Ultimate  particles,  by  a 
natural  coalescence,  unite  and  form  the  worlds.  The  great 
kingdoms  of  Nature — rising  in  orderly  succession,  one  above 
another — have  no  absolute  independence.  Each  sustains 
intimate  relations  to  the  others,  and  the  whole  resembles  a 
vast  pyramid,  whose  base  is  broad  as  terra,  and  whose  com- 
mon vertex  is  Man.  The  forms  of  the  organic  creation  all 
exhibit  intimate  relations,  and  are  mutually  dependent ; nor 
can  man,  with  all  his  boasted  freedom,  sci)aratc  himself  from 
his  natural  relations,  or  break  away  from  his  apjiropriate 
place  in  the  complex  web  of  existence.  Every  day  his  pride 
is  humlilcd  by  some  lesson  of  painful  ex|)criencc,  and  he  is 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATIOX. 


213 


made  to  feel  tlie  force  of  a natural  law  of  democratic  equal- 
ity. Providence  permits  inferior  natures  to  share  with  him 
the  common  elements  of  the  world.  The  same  earth  nourishes 
man  and  every  meaner  creature,  and  the  same  atmosphere 
moves  the  lungs  of  every  living  thing.  The  prince  has  small 
reason  to  frown  on  the  beggar,  or  the  philosopher  to  despise 
the  savage,  since  those  who  consume  most  of  the  products  or 
the  earth  are  of  all  men  most  dependent.  Before  God  the 
artificial*  distinctions  which  elevate  the  inheritors  of  wealth, 
and  power,  and  royalty,  may  only  serve  to  reveal  their  in- 
trinsic poverty  and  the  most  abject  dependence.  The  fire 
that  consumes  their  dwellings  and  their  goods,  the  frost  that 
chills  their  blood,  and  the  tempests  that  destroy  their  harvests, 
alike  admonish  them  that  Nature  resorts  to  no  special  legis- 
lation in  their  behalf.  Even  the  pestilential  vapors  from  the 
loathsome  hovels  of  the  great  city — borne  along  by  the  free 
winds — often  become  ministers  of  justice  and  equality,  to 
teach  the  rich  and  the  proud  the  unwelcome  truth  that  they 
belong  to  the  same  fraternity  with  the  wretched  outcasts  of 
St.  Giles. 

This  intimate  relation  of  all  the  forms  of  tlie  natural  world 
to  each  other,  involves  a perpetual  commingling  of  their  sub- 
tile emanations  and  forces  ; hence  their  reciprocal  influence 
and  all  the  phenomena  of  action  and  reaction.  But  I will  be 
more  explicit.  Doubtless  all  material  bodies  have  their 
atmospheres,  composed  of  the  more  ethereal  portions  of  the 
simple  substances  and  organizations  which  constitute  the 
forms  of  the  material  creation.  Moreover,  the  mind  that  is 
gifted  with  acute  and  delicate  powers  of  perception—  from 
the  conscious  influence  of  these  refined  elements  on  the  phases 


214 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  thought  and  feeling — may  determine  their  respective 
sources,  inasmuch  as  the  essential  nature  and  specific  quali- 
ties of  the  emanations  from  all  bodies  must  resemble  the 
grosser  elements,  thus  held  in  chemical  and  organic  union  by 
the  power  of  cohesion  and  the  mysterious  principle  of  life. 
The  ponderable  and  imponderable  substances  of  the  physical 
world  are  chiefly  dissimilar  in  the  existing  states  of  the 
simple  elements,  and  the  conditions  of  organic  and  inorganic 
combination.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  material  and 
spiritual  worlds  and  their  elemental  principles,  the  earths 
and  their  organized  forms,  the  souls  of  men  and  the  hosts  of 
heaven,  all  have  atmospheres  which  combine  and  represent 
the  essential  attributes  and  qualities  of  their  respective 
natures  and  peculiar  states. 

The  forms  of  organized  life  are  constantly  influenced  by 
the  existing  conditions  of  the  unorganized  elements.  The 
varying  degrees  of  light  and  moisture,  and  the  thermo-elec- 
trical changes  constantly  occurring  in  the  earth  and  atmo- 
sphere, all  modify  the  states  and  processes  of  vegetable, 
animal,  and  human  existence.  It  is  well  known  tliat  plants 
and  animals,  by  a natural  and  constant  reciprocation,  furnish 
each  other  with  the  essential  elements  of  their  mutual  life 
and  growth.  Each  is  necessary  to  the  normal  existence  of 
the  other.  Moreover,  they  exert  an  influence  on  man  under 
all  circumstances,  and  in  every  period  of  his  mundane  career. 
Gorgeous  colors,  harmonic  sounds,  delicate  aromas,  and 
exquisite  flavors,  all  feast  and  delight  the  senses.  But  the 
invisible  emanations  from  inanimate  forms  produce  other 
and  less  agreeable  effects.  Invisible  agents  of  iniectioii  are 
e\'olvcd  from  the  decomposing  processes  of  the  organic 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATlOxY. 


215 


world.  The  smoke  arising  from  tlie  combustion  of  certain 
poisonous  plants  and  trees,  diffuses  their  deleterious  proper- 
ties. Moreover,  the  natural  exhalations  from  the  Upas,  in 
the  forests  of  Java,  and,  to  some  extent,  from  trees  that  grow 
in  our  own  country,  are  said  to  infect  the  atmosphere  by  their 
poisonous  effluvia. 

A comprehensive  law  unites  all  things  in  one  universal 
economy,  embracing  every  orb  and  every  atom.  All  receive 
their  mysterious  quickening  from  the  same  incomprehensible 
Center  of  life  and  motion  ; and  whatever  antagonisms  may 
appear  on  the  remote  surfaces  of  being,  there  is  unity  at 
the  Heart.  This  relation  of  all  things  to  a common  source, 
involves  a corelation  of  the  several  parts,  one  to  another, 
and  each  to  all.  Hence  the  universal  sympathies  of  Nature, 
as  illustrated  in  the  laws  and  processes  of  molecular  attrac- 
tion, elective  and  chemical  affinity,  and  the  natural  gravita- 
tion and  cohesion  of  simple  elements  in  worlds,  and  suns, 
and  souls. 

If,  then,  a subtle  influence  emanates  from  every  orb,  and 
even  from  each  ultimate  particle  which  is  irresistible  as  the 
gravitation  that  balances  the  Universe,  and  all  the  potencies 
of  Nature,  reside  in  sublimated  invisible  elements  ; if  every 
inanimate  object  sustains  relations  to  all  others,  and  each 
simple  substance  is  thus  surrounded  by  its  own  peculiar 
emanations — influential  as  far  as  its  atmosphere  extends — 
we  need  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  similar  influences  pro- 
ceed from  all  the  forms  of  animated  nature  ; and  tfiat  by 
voluntary  effort  they  may  be  greatly  intensified  and  easily 
directed  to  particular  objects.  While  the  absence  of  life 
and  locomotion  leave  all  inanimate  things  to  preserve  the 


216 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


same  relative  positions,  the  inhabitants  of  the  animal  king- 
dom— by  the  power  of  voluntary  motion — are  enabled  to 
change  their  positions  in  respect  to  fixed  objects  and  geo- 
graphical lines,  and  thus  to  change  their  relations  to  each 
other  at  pleasure.  It  will  be  perceived  that  the  sphere  of  in 
visible,  commingling  elements,  that  surrounds  the  animal  and 
the  man,  can  scarcely  remain  unchanged  during  any  two 
days  in  the  whole  existence  of  the  individual.  Hence  the 
influences  which  excite  and  determine  feeling,  volition  and 
action,  are  susceptible  of  an  indefinite  number  of  changes 
and  combinations.  Everything  that  lives  and  moves  in  our 
presence,  modifies  the  very  atmosphere  we  breathe.  A man 
may  not  so  much  as  speak  or  lift  his  hand — not  even  feel 
deeply  or  think  earnestly — without  moving  the  electro-mag- 
netic aura  that  surrounds  his  person.  In  this  manner  we 
unconsciously  modify  the  conditions  of  being  as  far  as  our  in- 
fluence may  extend.  And  who  shall  define  the  ultimate  limits 
of  individual  influence?  It  is  not  without  some  show  of 
reason  as  well  as  fancy,  that  certain  ingenious  theorists  have 
maintained  that  the  ripple  occasioned  by  dropping  a pebble 
into  the  midst  of  the  sea  moves  the  surface  to  the  distant 
shore  ; that  the  reverberations  of  sound  have  no  limit  in 
space  ; and  that  the  great  globe  itself— in  some  inappreci- 
able degree — trembles  beneath  our  footsteps. 

The  mysterious  forces  of  life,  as  developed  through  the 
agent  of  sensation,  and  of  vital  and  voluntary  motion,  are 
essentially  the  same  in  all  animal  and  human  bodies.  This 
electric  agent,  on  which  the  functions  of  animated  nature 
are  perceived  to  depend,  being  homogeneous  in  all  the  forms 
of  tfie  living  world,  it  is  but  natural  tliat  they  should — 


PlilLOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATION. 


217 


tlirougli  this  refined  and  all-prevading  medium — exert  a 
powerful  influence  on  each  other.  This  being  the  proximate 
agent  in  all  the  functions  of  animal  and  human  bodies,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  control  the  distribution  of  this  principle, 
in  order  to  influence  the  Yoluntary  and  involuntary  functions 
of  all  livins:  beino-s.  Whenever  this  refined  aura  is  sent  out 
from  one  animal  or  man  to  another  individual  of  the  same 
or  of  a distinct  species,  the  creature  to  which  it  is  directed 
may  be  influenced  in  a degree  that  varies  according  to  the 
measure  of  executive  force  in  the  operator,  and  the  degree 
of  susceptibility  in  the  subject.  If  the  active  force  be  strong, 
properly  concentrated,  and  directed  with  unerring  precision  ; 
and  if,  at  the  same  time,  the  recipient  be  in  a passive  condi- 
tion, or  quieschnt  state,  so  that  the  vital  effluvium  may  be 
absorbed,  or  otherwise  permitted  to  pervade  the  channels  of 
nervous  energy,  the  effects  produced  on  the  functions  will  be 
at  once  decided  and  wonderful.  The  subtile  effluence  from 
animals  and  men  appropriately  belongs  to  themselves,  and 
may  be  influenced  by  them  after  it  has  been  made  to  pervade 
other  living  forms.  In  proportion,  therefore,  as  this  homo- 
geneous agent  of  sensation  and  motion  is  infused  by  one  liv- 
ing being  into  another,  the  two  become — temporarily,  at 
least — associated  or  conjoine^d.  When  this  relation  has  been 
fairly  established,  and  the  common  medium  of  electro-ner- 
vous communication  flows  uninterruptedly,  the  one  acquires 
a mysterious  and  irresistible  power  over  the  sensations,  affec- 
tions and  movements  of  the  other. 

The  examples  of  the  exercise  of  this  power — when  they 
occur  among  animals  of  the  lower  orders,  and  between  man 
and  inferior  ci-eatures — are  ordinarily  distinguished  and 


218 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


cliiiractcrlzccl  by  the  terms  fascination  and  cltarmmg.  The 
plieDOmenal  illustrations  are  numerous,  but  a few  examples 
will  suffice  in  this  connection.  That  beasts  of  prey  and 
serpents  frequently  exercise  this  remarkable  power  over 
other  creatures,  and  that  reptiles,  birds,  and  quadrupeds  arc 
susceptible  of  the  influence,  are  facts  established  by  the  con- 
current testimony  of  many  conscientious  observers.  The 
writer  once  witnessed  the  results  of  this  species  of  enchant- 
ment. I was  one  day  angling  along  the  bank  of  a stream 
in  Spencer,  Massachusetts,  when  my  attention  was  attracted 
by  the  wild,  unusual  notes  and  the  rapid  gyrations  of  a 
robin.  The  bird  was  moving  in  concentric  circles  about  a 
little  tree,  and  around  a principle  branch  of  whicli  I espied 
the  coil  of  a large  black  snake.  The  head  of  the  serpent 
was  elevated,  and  his  eyes  apparently  fixed  on  his  prey,  while 
the  bird  was  every  moment  drawing  nearer  to  destruction. 
The  natural  enmity  of  man  to  all  snakes,  which  (according 
to  the  theologians)  I inherited  from  the  common  mother  ot 
mankind,  prompted  a resolute  assault  on  the  serpent,  broke 
the  spell,  and  the  affrighted  bird  escaped. 

In  like  manner  serpents  and  cats  charm  mice,  squirrels, 
and  other  small  animals  ; and  instances  are  not  wanting  in 
which  human  beings  have  bec!ti  spellbound  by  tliis  subtile 
magnetism.  Dr.'  Newman,  in  his  work  on  Fascination,  refers 
to  two  or  three  persons  who  were  fascinated  by  serpents  ; 
and  several  well-authenticated  cases  have  appeared  in  the 
newspapers.  Among  the  number  of  recent  examples,  I am 
reminded  of  the  case  of  a small  boy — five  years  old — son  ot 
a Mr.  Martin,  wJio  lives  near  Gilbert’s  Mills.  The  little 
fellow  was  observed  to  be  very  quiet,  uncommunicative,  and 


PIIILOSOniY  OF  FASCINATION. 


• 219 


apparently  failing  in  health.  From  day  to  day  he  was  wont 
to  leave  his  companions  and  spend  some  time  alone,  at  a little 
distance  from  the  house.  One  day  a person,  who  was  thus 
led  to  watch  his  movements,  followed  him  to  the  bank  of  a 
creek.  When  the  child  had  seated  himself  and  commenced 
to  eat  his  dinner,  a large  snake  made  his  appearance,  and 
coiling  itself  about  the  lad  in  the  most  familiar  way,  shared 
the  child^s  repast,  licking  his  fingers  and  rubbing  against 
the  cheek  of  the  charmed  boy,  as  if  caressing  him  with  the 
fondest  affection.  The  snake  was  killed,  and  the  child  soon 
recovered  his  normal  health  and  disposition.  If  such  ex- 
amples do  not  render  the  Hebrew  story  of  Eve’s  seduction 
more  than  probable,  we  must  leave  the  skeptics  in  the  hands 
of  the  theologians. 

It  may  not  be  safe,  in  all  cases,  to  abruptly  destroy  the 
reptile  under  such  circumstances.  When  the  operator  and 
the  subject  are  both  human,  it  is  often  found  that  there  is 
such  a complete  blending  of  the  nervous  forces  of  the  two 
bodies,  that  any  injury  inflicted  on  the  former  is  instantly 
felt  by  the  latter.  Indeed,  the  magnetized  subject  will  often 
sense  the  least  violence  done  to  his  magnetizer,  when  he  is 
not  sensible  of  the  injury  done  to  his  own  body.  Yaillant, 
in  the  account  of  his  Travels  in  Africa,  relates  that  on  one 
occasion  he  shot  a large  serpent  while  the  reptile  was  in  the 
act  of  charming  a bird.  He  was  surprised  on  observing  that 
the  bird  did  not  move  as  he  approached.  On  a closer  in- 
spection the  reason  was  obvious — the  bird  was  dead.  In  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Newman,  either  fear  or  this  strange  power  of 
fascination  destroyed  its  life  ; but  in  the  judgment  of  the 
present  writer  the  death  of  the  bird  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to 

15 


220  ' 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


tlic  one  or  the  other  of  the  causes  narhed.  Doubtless  the 
same  shot  that  killed  the  serpent  destroyed  the  life  of  the 
bird  also,  owing  to  the  intimate  blending  of  the  nervous  or 
vital  forces  of  the  two  bodies. 

While  few  men  have  been  fascinated  by  snakes,  the  serpent 
charmers  of  India  all  possess  this  remarkable  influence  over 
the  reptillia  of  their  country,  and  nothing  is  more  common 
among  the  barbarous  African  Tribes  than  this  power  of 
fascination.  Travelers  inform  us  that  the  natives  handle 
scorpions  and  vipers  with  the  greatest  freedom,  and  without 
the  slightest  injury  or  apprehension,  placing  them  in  their 
bosoms  or  throwing  them  among  their  children.  According 
to  Mr.  Bruce,  who  had  abundant  opportunities  for  personal 
observation,  the  venomous  creatures  close  their  eyes,  and 
appear  to  be  rendered  powerless  by  handling ; and  he 
affirms  that  they  make  no  resistance  when  the  barbarians 
devour  them  alive. 

When  the  serpent  exercises  this  power,  either  over  the 
animal  or  human  subject,  the  head  assumes  an  erect  position, 
and  the  eyes,  which  are  directed  to  the  object,  exhibit  an 
unusual  brilliancy.  The  electric  forces  are  most  intensely 
focalized  about  the  organs  of  vision  when  tlie  attention 
is  thus  concentrated,  and  the  subtile  influence  is  projected  in 
invisible  shafts  while  the  gaze  continues  to  be  fixed.  This 
is  substantially  the  method  adopted  by  the  human  operator, 
while  the  whole  process  and  the  actual  results  are  funda- 
mentally the  same.  By  this  influence  the  Laplander  at  once  . J 
subdues  his  furious  dogs,  rendering  tliern  perfectly  harmless  I 
and  docile  in  a surprising  degree.  We  have  lion  and  tiger  j 
tamers  in  our  own  country,  before  whose  fixed  gaze  and  *1 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FASCINATION. 


* 221 


resolute  will  the  ferocious  beasts  quail  and  become  submis- 
sive. Other  men  tame  wild  horses.  Townsend  gives  an 
account  of  one  James  Sullivan,  who  was  familiarly  known 
as  the  ivhisperer.  He  would  enter  the  stable  alone  with 
the  most  vicious  horse,  and  in  half  an  hour  the  animal  would 
oe  completely  subdued  by  the  fascinating  spell  of  Sullivan. 

Rarey  has  quite  recently  attracted  general  attention  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe  by  his  truly  masterly  exercise  of  the 
same  power. 

Birds  are  susceptible  of  this  power  of  fascination  ; but ' 
from  among  the  illustrations  of  this  class  I can  only  cite  a 
single  example.  Some  time  since  Mademoiselle  Yander- 
meersch,  a beautiful  young  lady  from  Belgium,  created  a pe- 
culiar interest  by  an  exhibition  of  her  learned  birds.  Some 
may  be  inclined  to  ascribe  the  results  in  this  case  to  an  or-  , 

dinary  educational  process  ; but  it  was  apparently  under  the  Q / / ti 
action  of  her  will  that  the  birds  were  impelled  to  answer 
various  questions  correctly,  by  drawing  cards  on  which  the 
appropriate  answers  were  inscribed.  When  the  beautiful 
charmer  demanded  to.  know  the  hour,  her  goldfinch  would 
hop  out  from  his  cage  a,nd  look  about  among  the  cards, 
apparently  engaged  in  serious  deliberation.  At  length  he 
would  lay  hold  of  the  right  card,  and  tossing  it  to  the  com- 
pany in  a cavalier  manner,  would  return  to  his  perch  in  the 
cage.  In  this  way  a great  number  and  variety  of  question  s 
were  answered  with  surprising  accuracy./ 

That  Humanity  possesses  this  inherent  pnw^r  nvpr  thp. 


brute  creation,  the  writer  has  no  doubt. 

in  this  chapter  are  incidental  illustrations  occurring  under  a 

great  law,  that  is  broad  and  comprehensive  in  its  scope  as 


222 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  nature  and  relations  of  animal  and  human  existence. 
Had  that  law  been  everywhere  perceived  and  universally 
acted  on,  it  is  quite  likely  that  all  inferior  creatures  would 
have  recognized  man’s  right  to  the  scepter  of  the  world. 
But  through  his  ignorance  and  his  cruelty  he  has  trampled 
that  law  under  foot ; and,  as  a natural  consequence,  the 
stronger  animals  have  manifested  a determined  resistance  to 
his  authority. 

'I  can  not  omit  some  reference  in  this  connection  to  an  in- 
teresting incident  in  my  own  experience.  I was  on  one  oc- 
.casion  illustrating  this  idea  of  the  natural  supremacy  of  man, 
in  the  course  of  a public  lecture,  delivered  in  the  Tillage 
Hall,  Putnam,  Conn.,  when  I observed  that  a strange  dog 
was  laying  at  full  length  on  the  floor,  at  a distance  of  not 
less  than  thirty  or  forty  feet  from  the  platform.  The  noble 
animal — a large  one  of  his  kind — appeared  to  be  asleep,  and 
no  more  interested  than  other  drowsy  hearers.  The  speaker 
was  insisting,  with  some  earnestness,  that  had  man  strictly 
obeyed  the  natural  law,  designed  to  regulate  his  relations  to 
the  animal  kingdom,  the  whole  brute  creation  would  probably 
have  yielded  instinctive  obedience  to  his  aidhority.  Just  at 
that  point  in  the  discourse  the  dog,  without  any  apparent 
cause,  was  suddenly  disturbed.  Rising  from  his  recumbent 
position,  he  walked  slowly  to  the-  front  of  the  speaker’s 
stand.  Looking  steadily  in  my  face  for  a minute  or  two,  he 
deliberately  ascended  the  stairs  and  stretched  himself  at  my 
feet,  at  the  very  moment  the  argument  was  concluded  ; tlius 
presenting  a most  interesting  and  impressive  illustration  of 
a curious  and  profound  subject,  i 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


Introductory  Observations — Assumptions  of  Superficial  Investigators — Tes- 
timony of  the  late  Dr.  Gregory — Philosophical  Suggestions — Lawless  Spec- 
ulators and  scientific  Babel-builders — Criticism  of  the  Great  Harmonia — 
Amazing  production  of  Mechanical  Force — Timely  discovery  of  a common 
Error — Professional  Fallacies — Science  defined  and  Medicine  found  want- 
ing— Phenomenal  aspects  of  the  Magnetic  Sleep. 

S electrical  forces  develop  and  regulate  the  processes  of 


organic  chemistry,  the  functions  of  voluntary  and  invol- 
untary motion  and  sensation,  and  the  circulation  of  all  the 
animal  fluids,  it  will  be  no  less  apparent,  that  all  forms  of 
vital  and  functional  derangement  originate — as  to  their  or- 


system. By  a natural  and  necessary  sequence  we  therefore 
conclude,  that  any  method  or  process  whereby  the  prac- 
tioner,  in  the  healing  art,  is  enabled  to  directly  govern  the 
electrical  forces,  or  materially  influence  the  distribution  of 
this  subtile  agent,  at  once  invests  him  with  a masterly  power 
over  the  various  forms  of  disease. 

It  was  observed,  in  the  former  part  of  this  treatise,  that  aU 
disturbances  of  the  vital  forces,  and  consequent  irregularities 
in  the  organic  action,  may  be  comprehended  in  two  general 
classes,  namely,  the  positive  and  negative  forms  of  disease* 


ganic  incipiency — in  eleetrical  disturbances  of  the  nervous 


224 


MAN  AND  HIS  IJELATIONS. 


Every  departure  from  the  normal  standard  involves  either 
an  excess  or  a deficiency  of  the  electro-vital  motive  power. 
Moreover,  the  positive  and  negative  states  of  the  body, 
and  of  the  particular  organs,  are  invariably  accompanied  by 
a correspondingly  increased  or  diminished  electro-thermal, 
chemical,  vascular  and  organic  action.  To  accelerate  or  to 
retard  these  processes  and  functions — as  circumstances  re- 
quire in  the  treatment  of  diesase — we  must  of  course  act  on 
and  through  the  very  agent  on  which  they  severally  and  col- 
lectively depend.  Vital  electricity  being  the. operative  agent 
in  animal  chemistry  ; in  the  generation  of  vital  heat  and 
organic  force  ; in  the  circulation  of  the  fluids ; and.  in  all 
the  functions  of  sensation  and  voluntary  motion,  it  follows 
of  necessity,  that  the  power  to  control  the  circulation  and 
action  of  this  agent  qualifies  its  possessor  to  determine  the 
physiological  action  and  the  pathological  states  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  hence  to  subdue  all  the  curable  forms. of  disease. 

Among  the  pretenders  to  a knowledge  of  the  Magnetic 
Mysteries  of  the  living  world,  very  few  have  pursued  the 
investigation  of  the  subject  in  a truly  scientific  spirit.  Even 
those  who  set  up  the  most  imposing  claims  to  public  confi- 
fidence,  often  expose  themselves  and  the  subject  to  derision, 
by  their  large  faith  in  the  infallibility  of  their  own  desultory 
speculations  and  impressions.  With  such  pretended  philos- 
ophers the  observation  of  a new  class  of  phenomena  is  at 
once  presumedTo  confer  something  more  than  a hypothetical 
existence  on  a hitherto  undiscovered  imponderable.  Some 
animal  “ Magnetic  Fluid,’’  “ Ethereum,”  or  “ Od  Force,’  is 
alleged  to  exist  and  to  be  the  operative  cause  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  newly  classified  phenomena.  Vain  and  superficial 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


225 


investigators  are  quick  to  herald  their  discoveries  and  slow 
to  learn  that  they  were  only  imaginary.  Such  men  are 
accustomed  to  treat  the  whole  ideal  family  auras  as  if  they 
belonged  to  the  category  of  demonstrated  realities.  If  one 
can  not  derive  instruction  from  such  weakness  and  credulity, 
he  may  at  least  be  amused  to  see  with  what  readiness  certain 
grave  and  distinguished  persons  mistake  a specious  hypothe- 
sis for  a scientihc  deduction,  and  promptly  pay  their  respects 
to  the  whole  retinue  of  imaginary  agents  ; at  the  same  time 
they  indorse  the  paper  of  every  last  discoverer  of  a “ new 
fluid’^  until  it  passes  current  with  the  people. 

If  in  order  to  avoid  a too  frequent  repetition  of  the  same 
words  in  similar  relations,  different  terms  are  employed  in 
the  same  general  sense — or  to  denote  the  same  thing — it  may 
be  all  very  well,  and  the  only  question  likely  to  arise  would 
relate  merely  to  the  proprieties  of  speech  ; but  if  each  sepa- 
rate term  be  understood  to  represent  some  new  principle  or 
force  in  Nature,  distinguished  by  essential  qualities,  from  the 
one  agent  on  which  the  phenomena  of  life,  sensation  and 
motion  are  known  to  depend,  the  error  assumes  a grave 
character,  and  should  be  exposed.  Not  only  do  the  experi- 
ments of  Galvani,  Matteucci,  Reymond,  Humboldt,  Buff,  Since, 
and  others  demonstrate  that  the  vital,  sensorial  and- volun- 
tary functions  of  human  and. animal  bodies  are  electrically 
'produced;  but  other  distinguished  electricians,  chemists  and 
physiologists — without  pursuing  a similar  course  of  ex 
periment — have  adopted  their  conclusions.  To  the  list  of 
scientific  authorities — already  referred  to  for  confirmation 
of  the  writer’s  views — I will  only  add  the  name  and  testi- 
mony of  the  late  Dr.  Gregory,  for  many  years  professor  of 


226 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Electricity  and  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 
I extract  the  following  passage  from  his  chemical  science  : 

“ The  existence  in  all  parts  of  the  body  of  an  alkaline  liquid,  the  blood, 
and  an  acid  liquid,  the  juice  of  the  flesh,  separated  by  a very  thin  membrane, 
and  in  contact  with  muscle  and  nerve,  seems  to  have  some  relation  to  the 
fact,  now  established,  of  the  existence  of  electric  currents  in  the  body  and 
particularly  to  those  which  occur  when  the  muscles  contract.  The  animal 
body  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  a galvanic  engine  for  the  production 

of  mechanical  ^jrce A working  man,  it  has  been  calculated,  produces 

in  twenty-four  hours  an  amount  of  heating  or  thermal  eftect  equal  to  the 
demand  in  raising  nealy  fourteen  millions  of  pounds  to  the  height  of  one 
foot.  . . .But  from  causes  connected  with  the  range  of  temperature,  he  can 
only  produce,  in  the  form  of  actual  work  done,  about  as  much  mechanical 
efiect  as  would  raise  three  million  flve  hundred  thousand  pounds  the  hight  of 
one  foot  in  twenty-four  hours.” 

If  vital  and  voluntary  motion  and  sensation  thus  depend 
on  the  presence  and  motion  of  a subtile  fluid  known  as  ani- 
mal electricity — the  actual  existence  of  which  no  scientific 
observer  pretends  to  dispute — it  must  be  obvious  that  the 
various  chemical,  physiological,  and  psychological  changes 
which  result  from  the  magnetic  manipulations  directly  depend 
on  the  influence  exerted  over  this  known  and  acknowledged 
agent  of  feeling,  thought  and  motion.  If  the  excitation  of 
the  electric  fluid  that  pervades  the  sensories  occasions  sensa- 
tion, there  is  no  valid  reason  for  presuming  that  some  other 
agent — not  absolutely  known  to  exist^ — is  acted  u})on  when 
the  avenues  of  sensation  are  closed,  as  in  tlic  magnetic  sleeps 
or  opened  to  the  phantom  throng  of  psycho-sensorial  illu- 
sions. It  must  be  obvious  that  whenever  feeling  is  cither 
increased,  diminished  or  suspended,  the  effects  must  be  pro- 
duced through  the  unequal  distribution  or  abnormal  action 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


227 


of  the  very  agent  on  which  the  sensation,  in  all  its  phases, 
proximately  depends.  Moreover,  the  medium  of  vital  motion 
must  be  the  subtile  principle  through  which  we  operate  when 
the  organic  functions  are  accelerated,  retarded  or  otherwise 
influenced  by  the  manipulations  of  the  magnetizer  or  the  will 
of  the  psychologist.  The  assumption  that  a fluid,  distinct 
from  vital  electricity,  is  either  imparted  or  withdrawn  from 
the  subject  in  the  production  of  these  effects,  derives  no  con- 
firmation from  the  record  of  scientific  discovery.  Nor  is  it 
logical  to  infer,  from  the  facts  themselves,  the  existence  and 
action  of  some  undiscovered  imponderable,  so  long  as  an 
agent  already  known  to  exist  will  suffice  to  account  for  all 
the  phenomena. 

Certain  undisciplined  minds  are  extreiffely  liable  to  mistake/ 
a peculiar  looseness  of  statement  for  remarkable  freedom  of 
thought.  Such  men  discover  only  useless  landmarks  and 
arbitrary  restraints  in  the  ordinary  demonstrations  of  science,/ 
while  the  best  evidence  that  they  are  independent  thinker s< 
is  to  be  found  in  their  mental  recklessness  and  irresponsi-- 
bility.  We  have  teachers  who  insist  that  Magnetism  is  a 
subtile  fluid  ; that  it  exists  essentially  as  well  as  phenom- 
enally ; that  Magnetism  is  warm  whilst  Electricity  is  cold  : 
that  the  one  iS  the  agent  of  sensation  in  animal  and  human 
bodies,  while  muscular  motion  directly  depends  on  the  other ; 
that  Magnetism  is  the  positive  force  in  the  vital  constitution, 
and  Electricity  the  negative  force  ; that  in  producing  the 
magnetic  state  we  must  withdraw  the  positive  force  from  the 
subject  hy  the  still  more  'positive  power  of  the  operator.  In 
the  name  of  Philosophy  all  this  and  much  more  is  very  freely 
offered  and  as  promptly  rejected. 


228 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


7'r-Si 


The  foregoing  assumptions,  taken  together,  do  not  consti- 
tute a comprehensible  thesis,  but  an  unintelligible  jargon, 
with  no  better  foundation  than  the  erratic  and  lawless  spec- 
ulations of  the  uneducated  mind.  I may  be  pardoned  if  I 
^do  not  understand  true  mental  freedom  to  consist  in  a total 
Q:  indifference  to  natural  law,  in  the  absence  of  rational 
j restraints,  and  in  ignorance  of  scientific  discoveries.  It  is 
quite  natural  for  those  who  have  been  enfranchised  to  this 
unlimited  extent,  to  feel  that  they  a.re  entitled  to  “ the  largest 
liberty.’’  They  may  permit  the  imagination  to  “ take  a 
spree”  in  the  new  realms  of  thought ; the  nobler  faculties — 
for  want  of  more  serious,  orderly,  and  profitable  employment 
— may  each  in  turn  play  the  harlequin  ; and  even  Reason^ — 
intoxicated  with  self-love — be  allowed  to  appear  in  perpet- 
ual masquerade.  But  instead  of  a mere  repetition  of  this 
species  of  “ground  and  lofty  tumbling”  (for  the  further  enter- 
tainment of  those  who  are,  for  the  most  part,  convinced  and 
interested  by  the  mere  prestige  of  certain  proper  names,)  an 
indestructible  basis — natural  forces,  accredited  facts,  and 
discovered  laws — is  here  offered  as  the  foundation  of  a 
rational  philosophy.  By  logical  deductions  from  such  premi- 
ses we  shall  proceed  to  the  final  conclusion,  leaving  such 
speculators  in  fancy  stocks  as  are  determined  to  build  the 
whole  temple  of  Science  on  visions  and  impressions,  to 


“ Dive  at  stars  and  fasten  in  the  mud.” 


While  there  may  be  no  such  “ magnetic  fluid,  universally 
diffused”  in  Nature,  as  is  presumed  to  exist  in  the  thesis  of 
Anthony  Mesmer,  and  in  the  faith  of  his  willing  disciples, 
still  the  phenomena  under  discussion  arc  neither  unreal  nor 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


229 


unimportant.  In  respect  to  animated  nature,  therefore,  the 
term  Magnetism  may  properly  represent  a variety  of  curious 
and  instructive  phenomena,  all  depending  on  certain  electro - 
physiological  conditions  and  changes  in  animal  and  human 
bodies. 

The  popular  notion  that  the  so-ealled  magnetic  phenomena 
depend  on  the  agency  of  a fluid,  distinct  from  the  animal 
electricity  evolved  in  the  processes  of  vital  chemistry,  and 
disengaged  in  the  organic  functions  of  the  system,  rests  on 
nothing  better  than  a very  common  assumption.  It  is  nei- 
ther sustained  by  a single  principle  nor  illustrated  by  a sol- 
itary fact  in  science.  Moreover,  it  will  be  time  to  consider 
the  temperature  of  Magnetism  when  it  is  fairly  demonstrated 
that  such  a fluid  has  anything  more  substantial  than  an  im- 
aginary existence.  The  kindred  assertion  that  “ electricity 
is  cold''  is  not  illustrated  in  a very  clear  and  convincing 
Tvay  by  the  results  of  its  action,  as  seen  in  the  sudden  com- 
bustion of  buildings,  in  the  fusion  of  metals  and  solid  rocks, 
and  in  the  evidences  of  intense  heat  found  on  the. barren 
plains  of  Silesia  and  Persia,  where  the  sands  are  often  melted 
and  formed  into  vitreous  tubes  of  several  yards  in  length, 
by  the  disruptive  electrical  discharges  from  the  atmospheric, 
batteries.  ^ 

But  I have  not  done.  That  the  nervous  medium  of  sen- 
sation is  essentially  distinct  from  the  agent  of  vital  and  vol- 
untary motion,  is  not  even  supported  by  a remote  probability. 
W e are  not  authorized  to  infer  that  the  nervous  fluid  is  one 
thing,  when  it  is  excited  at  the  papillary  terminations — by 


^ See  Webster’s  Elements  of  Physics,  London  edition,  page  470. 


230 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


outward  elements  and  external  objects — and  something  es- 
sentially different,  when  it  is  disturbed  at  the  source  of  the 
motors,  or  at  the  nervous  centers — by  some  involuntary  emo- 
tion, or  the  action  of  the  will.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  notion 
that,  in  order  to  produce  a state  of  coma,  the  magnetic  or 
positive  force  of  the  body  is  withdrawn  by  the  still  more 
positive  power  of  the  maguetizer,  does  not  appear  to  be  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  law  ; for  since  positive  and  negative 
objects  and  forces,  only,  exhibit  attraction,  it  would  follow 
that  if  the  positive  force  of  the  subject  be  extracted  at  all,  it 
would  seek  and  find  its  equilibrium  alone  in  a union  with 
what  is  negative  in  the  operator.  ^ 

The  nervous  system  is  a most  delicate,  complicated  and 
beautiful  electro-telegraphic  machine.  The  intelligent  ope- 
rator— the  Spirit — has  his  chief  residence  and  principal  sta- 
j tion  in  the  physical  sensorium,  from  which  tlie  lines  of 
communication  diverge  to  all  points.  He  has  one  large  and 
many  smaller  batteries  with  corresponding  reservoirs,  to- 
gether with  suitable  machinery,  alkalies,  acids,  9tc.,  for  the 
generation  of  the  electric  force  required  on  all  the  lines  of 
communication,  and  for  numerous  other  important  purposes. 

; The  whole  realm  covered  by  the  infinite  ramifications  of  the 
^ nervo-telegraphic  network,  is  one  splendid  workshop,  and  the 
property  of  the  same  individual.  The  proprietor  employs 
f electro-hydraulic  and  caloric  engines  of  small  dimensions  but 
’ of  great  power.  Beside  a force — estimated  at  fifty  tons — 
expended  in  blowing  the  vital  fires,  in  driving  the  engines, 
working  the  forcing- pumps,  in  the  transportation  of  liquid 
and  solid  substances  to  every  part  of  the  industrial  domain, 


' The  reader  is  referred  to  the  Great  Ilarmonia,  Vol.  Ill,  Leeture  XI. 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


231 


and  ill  frequently  moving  tlie  whole  coneern  from  place  to  j 
place,  the  owner — under  favorable  circumstances — is  sure  to  ^ 
have  a surplus  electro-thermal  power — applicable  to  mechan- 
ical purposes — which,  (according  to  the  calculation  of  Dr.  ^ 
Gregory  and  other  scientific  authorities)  is  sufficient  to  annu- 
ally carry  seventeen  hundred  tons  from  the  foundation  to  the 
top  of  St.  Paul’s  in  London  ! Such  parts  of  the  business  as 
do  not  require  a constant,  intelligent  supervision,  proceed 
uninterruptedly  through  the  night,  The  ivhole  business  of 
the  establishment  is  prosecuted,  on  an  average,  some  sixteen  ■ 
hours  in  twenty-four,  during  which  time  the  superintendent 
keeps  his  office  doors  and  all  the  windows  open  ; but  gene-  ^ 
rally  he  drops  his  curtains  at  regular  intervals,  bars  the 
doors,  and  retiring  to  an  inner  chamber,  rests  for  several 
hours  without  interruption. 

As  the  writer  does  not  belong  to  any  school  in  Medicine, 
and  is  not  otherwise  employed  in  the  practice  of  the  healing 
art,  he  may  reasonably  expect  to  escape  the  suspicion  ol 
writing  to  advertise  his  claims  as  a practitioner.  Other  mo- 
tives and  objects  demand  a reference  to  my  own  experiments 
in  this  department,  and  to  these  I shall  devote  the  succeed- 
ing Chapter.  I am  reminded  that  when  one  undertakes  the 
advocacy  of  new  views,  calculated  to  unsettle  the  general 
confidence  in  existing  systems,  the  public  has  a right  to  de- 
mand the  best  evidence  the  case  will  admit  of,  and  may 
lustly  withhold  so  much  as  even  an  implied  indorsement  in 
the  absence  of  all  tangible  proofs.  Mere  theorists  and  phi- 
losophical speculators,  who  support  their  fanciful  and  im- 
probable notions  by  no  substantial  evidence,  can  not  reasona- 
bly expect  to  inspire  confidence,  either  in  the  value  or  the 


232 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


correctness  of  their  peculiar  ideas.  Moreover,  no  intelli- 
gent, fair-minded  man  will  be  disposed  to  cling  to  his  pre- 
conceived opinions  when  once  they  are  plainly  disproved  by 
the  discovered  laws  of  Nature  and  the  results  of  scientific 
experiment. 

^ It  was  only  after  suffering  for  years  the  painful  consc- 
^ quences  of  my  error,  (the  very  common  and  often  fatal  mis- 
take of  supposing  that  health  is  to  be  sought  in  nostrums 
and  purchased  of  apothecaries,  rather  than  found  in  an  in- 
i telligent  perception  of,  and  a strict  obedience  to,  the  laws  of 
' vital  harmony,)  that  the  fallacies  of  the  Profession  were 
^ fairly  uncovered  and  comprehended,  and  the  use  of  medicine 
' — as  ordinarily  administered — was  perceived  to  be  the  trial 
' of  doubtful  expedients,  rather  than  a truly  scientific  adapta- 
tion of  means  to  ends.  I can  not  be  unjust  toward  others 
without  impoverishing  myself  ; and  I have  certainly  nothing 
to  gain  by  undervaluing  the  learned  professions.  I am  well 
aware  that  the  Medical  Profession  has  already  furnished  a 
long  list  of  illustrious  names  of  men,  whose  discoveries  oc- 
cupy a large  space  in  the  scientific  records  of  our  country 
and  the  world.  Perhaps  no  profession  is  now  dignified  by  a 
greater  number  of  free,  enlightened  and  noble  minds  ; and 
it  is  precisely  for  this  reason  that  I shall  not  bo  accused  of 
treating  the  subject  unfairly.  It  will  doubtless  bo  conceded 
that  Science  properly  comprehends  not  merely  a classification 
I of  particular  facts  ^ hut  likewise  an  explanation  of  the  essen- 
{^tial  laws  on  which  such  facts  depend.  Wherever  this  defini- 
/tion  is  accepted,  it  will  be  perceived  that  Medicine  does  not 
[answer  the  description.  It  is  readily  granted  that  we  arc 
supplied  with  the  necessary  classification  of  the  })henoineiial 


ANIMAL  AND  HUMAN  MAGNETISM. 


233 


effects  of  Medicine  and  the  superficial  aspects  of  disease  ; 
but  we  wait  for  the  discovery  of  the  essential  laws  under 
which  all  physiological,  pathological,  and  therapeutic  effects 
occur  ; and  until  those  laws  are  clearly  recognized  and  duly 
respected,  the  practice  of  Medicine,  at  best,  is  but  a course 
of  doubtful  experiment  which  may  destroy  the  constitution 
with  the  disease. 

In  returning  from  this  digression,  a brief  summary  of  the 
phenomenal  aspects  of  the  Magnetic  slumber  will  conclude 
this  Chapter.  When  sleep  is  induced  by  magnetic  manipu- 
lations, the  avenues  leading  from  the  outer  world  to  the  soul 
are  closed  ; the  process  of  telegraphic  communication  is  sus- 
pended, and  the  physical  and  mental  functions — so  far  as 
they  depend  on  voluntary  effort — are  temporarily  arrested. 
These  effects  can  only  be  produced  by  the  direct  influence 
exerted  over  the  known  and  accredited  agent  of  sensation 
and  motion.  By  the  concentration  of  that  agent  at  certain 
points,  and  by  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  subtile  principle  ; 
by  its  equal  and  unequal  distribution  ; by  its  sudden  dissipa- 
tion from  particular  organs  and  the  centers  of  electro-nervous 
energy  ; by  alternately  interrupting  and  restoring  the  elec- 
trical equilibrium  of  the  brain  and  other  vital  parts  ; and 
by  changing  the  polarity  of  the  organs—all  of  which  effects 
the  skillful  operator  may  develop,  agreeably  to  certain  phys- 
ical and  psycho-electrical  laws — we  produce  all  the  mysteri- 
ous changes  in  the  processes  of  animal  chemistry  ; in  the 
varying  phenomena  of  sensation  ; and  in  the  organic  action 
of  the  whole  body,  which  are  known  to  occur  under  the 
hand,  the  eye,  and  the  will  of  any  person  who  is  skilled  in 
vital  magnetics. 


234 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


^ The  condition  of  the  magnetic  sleeper  is  usually  one  of 
serene  and  profound  repose.  He  gradually  becomes  uncon- 
scious of  time  and  space,  and,  in  a greater  or  less  degree, 
regardless  of  his  relations  to  external  objects.  When  all 
the  outward  avenues,  through  which  the  soul  is  wont  to  re- 
ceive its  impressions,  are  thus  closed,  a temporary  paralysis 
rests  on  the  physical  medium  and  instruments  of  sensation 
A leaden  slumber  weighs  down  the  eyelids  ; the  ear  is  dull 
and  insensible  ; and  the  delicate  “nerve  spirit,^’  that  like  a 
fleet  courier  ran  through  and  along  each  sensitive  fiber,  and 
every  nerve  of  motion — keeping  the  soul  in  correspondence 
with  the  external  world — like  a weary  traveler  rests  by  the 
way.  Thus  the  portals  of  our  mortal  tabernacle  are  closed 
for  a season ; the  conscious  and  voluntary  faculties  of  the 
mind  are  held  in  subjection  by  a spell  that  finds  its  most 
striking  analogy  in  death  ; while  the  immortal  dweller  in  the  • 
temple  retires  alone — to  the  inner  sanctuary — for  the  sweet 
solace  of  calm  repose  and  silent  communion,  j 


CHAPTER  XX. 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT.  . 

Absurdities  of  a routine  Practice— Cosmological  Changes — Progressive  refine- 
ment of  Human  Nature — Modes  of  equalizing  the  Circulation — A System 
founded  on  Natural  Law — Confirmation  a Cure  for  Rheumatism — Obser" 
vations  by  the  Author — Mrs.  Gardner  cured  of  Asthma — Case  of  Catalepsis 
at  the  City  Hotel,  Springfield — Medical  skill  ineffectual — The  young  Lady 
suddenly  restored — Asphyxia  from  a fall — Mrs.  Mills  cured  of  pleurisy — 
Rheumatic  Fever  and  Inflammation  immediately  subdued — Philosophy  of 
the  Effects — Case  of  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Lockwood — Spinal  Disease  accom- 
panied by  loss  of  Speech  and  Locomotion — Testimony  of  the  Stamford  Ad- 
vocate—Leiiev  from  the  Patient — Instantaneous  cure  of  Symptomatic  De- 
rangement— The  Lunatic  clothed  and  in  her  right  mind. 

The  remedial  agents  employed  with  success  in  one  case 
may  totally  fail  in  another — and  even  prove  to  be  inju- 
rious— owing  to  the  endless  diversity  among  men,  in  respect 
to  physical  organization,  combination  of  temperaments,  states 
of  the  mind,  and  varying  degrees  of  susceptibility  to  physical 
mental  and  moral  influences.  Hence  the  same  medical 
treatment  in  all  cases — for  the  same  general  type  of  disease* 
— without  such  modifications  as  the  individual  constitution 
may  require,  can  never  be  uniformly  successful.  Much  less 
can  a routine  practice,  founded  on  ancient  medical  author 
ities,  be  pursued  at  this  day  with  any  reasonable  hope  of 
beneficial  results.  The  constitutions  of  men  ; our  manner 

of  life ; our  pursuits  and  habits  of  thought ; and  even  the 

16 


28(3 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


earth  and  atmosphere,  have  all  changed.  We  are  becoming 
sublimated  by  the  progress  of  civilization,  the  influence  of 
Literature,  Art,  Science  and  Commerce,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mental  and  spiritual  faculties  and  forces  of 
human  nature. 

Moreover,  the  same  kinds  of  food  that  once  were  readily 
digested  and  assimilated — thus  freely  contributing  to  aug- 
ment the  vital  energies— are  now  burdensome  to  the  stomach 
and  wholly  unsuited  to  promote  either  physical  health  or 
mental  activity.  Similar  changes  have  occurred  in  the 
specific  forms  of  disease.  All  these  should  be  carefully 
observed,  and  their  relations  to  the  fundamental  iaws  of 
being  comprehended.  The  wisest  physicians  already  per- 
ceive the  necessity  for  corresponding  changes  and  modifica- 
tions in  the  professional  modes  of  practice  ; and  hence  they 
administer  medicine  wdth  caution,  in  alterative  doses  and 
sublimated  forms.  Some  centhries  ago,  when  men  were  less 
human,  and  far  more  gross  and  animal  than  now,  they  sur- 
vived the  action  of  powerful  drugs  and  a thorough  course  of 
depletion,  such  as  would  now  be  followed  by  a complete  and 
hopeless  prostration  of  the  system.  It  is  barely  })Ossible  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Central  Africa  and  the  South  Sea  Islands 
might  still  be  benefitted  by  such  treatment,  but  it  is  absolutely 
certain  that  the  more  refined  nations  of  Europe  and  America 
require  it  no  longer. 

When  the  physician  is  called  to  attend  a sick  man,  his  first 
object  is  to  equalize  the  circulation.  If  this  purpose  can  be 
accomplished  by  the  use  of  the  doctor’s  remedial  agents,  the 
patient  will  be  sure  to  recover.  But  with  rare  exceptions 
the  means  and  modes  adopted  by  the  Faculty  ai*e  neither  llie 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT.  237 

most  direct  nor  the  most  effectual.  Attempts  to  sustain  tlie< 
vital  principle  by  the  use  of  deadly  poisons  ; to  equalize  the  I 
forces  and  to  restore  organic  harmony  by  causing  a general  ♦ 
insurrection  in  the  stomacli,  followed  by  fierce,  intestinal  i 
tempests  ; removing  pain  by  the  administration  of  opiates 
that  deaden  and  destroy  sensation  ; diminishing  the  systolic  ^ 
and  diastolic  action  by  tapping  the  tributaries  of  the  vena  / 
cava  ; and  sending  mercury  like  a swift  sheriff  to  arrest  the 
disorderly  vital  forces  and,  perhaps,  to  transform  the  phy- 
sical man  into  an  instrument  for  barometrical  observations  ^ 
for  the  remainder  of  his  natural  life — all  these  are  the  I 
clumsy,  unnatural,  and  dangerous  devices  of  scientific  igno-  I 
ranee  and  titled  empiricism.j 

But  I am  to  present  the  claims  of  a more  rational  and 
effectual  treatment,  founded  on  the  existence  and  recognition 
of  a fundamental  law  in  the  vital  economy,  and  the  discovery 
and  adaptation  of  natural  means  to  the  most  beneficent  ends. 
Some  of  the  simpler  phenomena  in  this  department  occur  so 
frequently  as  to  be  matters  of  common  observation.  It  is 
well  known  that  severe  pain  is  often  greatly  alleviated  or 
wholly  removed,  by  gently  passing  the  hand  a number  of 
times,  over  the  affected  part.  A similar  motion  of  the  hand 
from  the  brain,  along  the  spinal  column  of  an  animal,  will 
produce  a state  of  unusual  passivity  ; and  cats,  dogs  and 
other  quadrupeds,  not  unfrequenly  fall  asleep  when  thus 
subjected  to  the  influence  of  even  the  inexperienced  and 
unskillful  experimenter.  Fifteen  minutes  in  a barber^s  chair 
— with  the  manipulations  of  the  tonsorial  operator  about  the 
cranium — may  suffice  to  cure  a headache.  By  a similar 
process,  and  agreeably  to  the  same  general  law,  nurses — 


288 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


almost  unconsciously  to  themselves — subdue  the  nervous 
irritability  and  restlessness  of  children  ; and  it  often 
happens  that  the  moral  and  physical  resistance  of  older 
persons  is  overcome  by  the  magnetism  of  the  hand.  I find 
a humorous  illustration  of  the  subject  in  an  anecdote  that 
recently  appeared  in  the  papers.  An  ignorant  old  lady, 
/ who  had  but  recently  received  confirmation  at  the  hands  of 
\ the  Bishop,  presented  herself  a second  time  as  a candidate, 
j saying,  she  wanted  to  be  confirmed  again — because  it  was  so 
^ good  for  her  “ rlieumati%r 

Though  little  understood,  this  natural  mode  of  treating 
diseases  is  far  more  effectual  .than  the  means  and  methods 
prescribed  by  the  scientific  authorities  in  medicine.  It  is 
practiced  with  success  among  heathen  nations  and  savage 
tribes,  often  accompanied  by  mystical  ceremonies,  the  invo- 
cation of  occult  powers,  conjurations  and  incantations — all  of 
which  may  be  useless  in  themselves.  In  the  common  judg- 
ment of  more  enlightened  nations,  they  sustain  no  relations 
to  the  physical  result — the  restoration  of  the  'patient — except 
as  their  influence  is  exerted  on  the  body  through  the  excited 
reverence  and  increased  faith  of  the  ignorant  being  in  whose 
behalf  they  are  practiced.  Many  cures,  thus  wrouglit  by 
the  imposition  of  hands — by  'manipulations  that  equalize  the 
electrical  forces,  and  thus  harmonize  the  organic  action — have 
led  multitudes  to  suppose  that  the  successful  practitioner  was 
endowed  with  preternatural  and  superhuman  powers.’  In 
all  such  cures  the  electro-magnetic  operator  should  come  nito 

1 The  idea  that  the  most  benighted  Pagan  may  be  aided  by  kindred  spirit- 
ual beings,  is  not  to  be  wholly  discredited  by  any  one  acquainted  with  the 
laws  of  the  mental  and  moral  world. 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 


239 


tangible  relations  and  mental  rapport  with  the  patient. 
Wlien  the  relation  is  fairly  established — with  a wise  refer- 
ence to  the  fundamental  law,  and  the  specific  conditions  of 
the  parties — the  most  astonishing  results  are  speedily  pro- 
duced. Violent  pains  are  suddenly  removed  ; acute  inflam- 
mations rapidly  subdued ; the  vital  energies  excited  and  aug- 
mented, sensation  and  muscular  motion  restored,  while  stru- 
mous tumors  and  other  swellings  gradually  disappear  under 
the  hands  of  the  magnetizer.  Moreover,  the  world  has  yet 
to  learn  that  this  species  of  natural  magic — in  other  words, 
the  art  of  so  directing  the  subtile  elements  and  invisible 
forces  of  the  natural  universe  as  to  develop  apparently  super- 
natural results— may  coexist  with  a positive  philosophy  and 
a Spiritual  Rationalism,  as  well  as  with  ignorance  and  the 
most  degrading  superstition. 

Before  entering  on  a course  of  practical  experiment,  I was 
led,  by  reading,  observation  and  reflection,  to  the  conclusion 
that  all  forms  of  disease  commence  in  the  nervous  system,  by 
a disturbance  or  unequal  distribution  of  vital  electricity ; 
and  that  the  organic,  functional  and  symptomatic  effects  all 
resulted  from  this  derangement  of  the  electro-motive  power 
of  the  organization.  Having  satisfied  myself  on  this  point, 
it  was  but  natural  to  conjecture  that  the  specific  effects  of 
all  remedial  agents  occur  under  the  action  of  the  electro-ner- 
vous forces,  and  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  vital  electricity. 

I had  observed  the  surprising  results  produced  by  magnetic 
manipulations — had  often  produced  those  effects.  Acute 
pains  were  readily  removed  ; extreme  nervous  irritability 
was  rapidly  subdued  ; sarcomatous  and  encysted  tumors, 
rheumatic  and  other  swellings,  had  mysteriously  disappeared 


240 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


under  the  hands  of  the  operator.  I had  also  marked  the 
salutary  results  of  the  Hydropathic  treatment  in  fevers,  and 
the  beneficial  effects  of  poultices  and  other  moist  applications 
in  subduing  local  inflammations.  I had  no  doubt  that  these 
and  all  similar  effects  occurred  agreeably  to  an  electro-vital 
principle.  Regarding  inflammation  as  proceeding  from  a 
highly  electrical  state  of  the  parts  affected,  it  could  only  be 
necessary — provided  I had  really  discovered  the  fundamen- 
tal electrical  law — to  adapt  the  treatment  to  that  law  in  its 
relations  to  the  human  system,  and  the  conditions  would  be 
rapidly  changed ; so  that  in  every  case,  where  no  destruction 
of  the  organs  or  tissues  had  occurred,  a normal  state  would 
necessarily  and  almost  instantly  supervene.  These  general 
observations,  respecting  the  philosophy  of  the  subject,  may 
be  more  clearly  elucidated  by  a citation  of  particular  facts. 
As  my  limits  will  only  admit  of  the  introduction  of  a few 
experimental  illustrations,  I shall  endeavor  to  select  such 
examples  from  my  own  experience  as  will  combine  the  larg- 
est possible  variety  of  causes  and  effects. 

In  the  early  part  of  my  investigations — some  fourteen 
years  since — I became  acquainted  with  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Gardner  and  his  family.  Mrs.  G.  had  suffered  long  and 
severely  from  a distressing  asthmatic  affection.  As  medicine 
afforded  no  certain  relief,  and  promised  no  permanent  cure, 
she  expressed  a desire  to  test  the  efficacy  of  Magnetism,  and 
at  her  solicitation  tlie  writer  made  a trial  of  his  powers. 
Mrs.  Gardner  proved  to  be  a highly  susceptible  subject  ; a 
state  of  complete  coma  was  readily  induced,  and  the  first 
experiment  resulted  in  a thorough  cure  of  the  asthma. 

In  December,  1819, 1 made  an  experiment  at  a public  house 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 


241 


in  Spring-field,  Mass.,  the  result  of  which  occasioned  no  little 
interest  at  the  time.  Plaving  just  completed  a protracted 
course  of  lectures  on  vital  and  mental  phenomena,  I had  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  pass  the  last  evening  I designed  to 
remain  in  town,  with  a select  company  at  the  house  of  a 
friend.  I left  the  old  Hampden  at  an  early  hour,  without  in- 
forming any  one  where  I might  be  found,  should  my  presence 
be  demanded  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  The  incident  1 
am  about  to  relate  occurred  at  the  City  Hotel.  At  about 
the  hour  of  seven  o’clock,  p.  M.,  while  a number  of  young 
people — assembled  in  the  parlor — were  engaged  in  an  ani- 
mated and  playful  conversation,  a young  lady,  of  remarkable 
beauty  and  accomplishments,  was  seized  with  catalepsis  in 
its  most  frightful  form . Y oluntary  motion,  sensation , respira- 
tion and  consciousness,  were  all  instantly  suspended.  The 
report  was  rapidly  circulated  that  the  young  lady  was  dying  ; 
and  as  she  was  widely  known,  and  had  many  friends  and 
admirers,  the  excitement  soon  caused  a crowd  of  two  or  three 
hundred  people  to  assemble  in  and  about  the  hotel.  Three 
physicians  were  called  in,  whose  united  efforts  to  relieve  the 
patient  were  unavailing.  At  length,  in  the  course  of  the 
evening,  some  earnest  friends  of  the  lady — whose  faith  was 
not  exactly  restricted  to  the  ordinary  anti-spastic  agents  em- 
ployed by  the  medical  profession — having  ascertained  the 
writer’s  whereabouts,  came  to  solicit  my  presence  and  assist- 
ance. It  was  half-past  ten  o’clock  when  I reached  the  City 
Hotel,  and  the  young  woman  had  been  in  the  cataleptic  state 
more  than  three  hours  without  exhibiting  the  least  indication 
of  returning  consciousness  and  animation. 

I felt  assured  that  this  abrupt  and  complete  suspension  of 


242 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  functions  liad  resulted  from  a sudden  loss  of  the  electri- 
cal equilibrium — that  some  constitutional  cause,  or  incidental 
circuuistance,  affecting  the  vital  forces  through  the  agency  of 
the  mind,  had  occasioned  an  instantaneous  determination  of 
the  nervous  circulation  to  some  vital  organ — probably  the 
brain  or  the  heart,  and  that  an  observation  of  the  relative 
temperature  of  different  parts  of  the  body  would  enable  me 
to  ascertain  the  precise  point  of  the  electrical  concentration. 
An  examination  at  once  settled  this  question  in  my  own 
mind,  and  without  a moment’s  delay  I commenced  making 
appropriate  manipulations  in  all  directions  from  the  supposed 
point  of  electrical  convergence.  It  was  very  soon  apparent 
that  I had  not  misjudged.  Visible  signs  of  a speedy  resto- 
ration of  all  the  faculties  immediately  followed  the  applica- 
tion of  the  treatment,  and  in  fourteen  minutes  after  the 
writer  entered  the  apartment y the  'patient  was  fully  restored, 
and  employed  in  adjusting  her  hair  before  the  mirror. 

Some  years  since  while  on  a visit  to  Greenfield,  Mass.,  I 
chanced  one  day  to  be  present  when  a young  man  acciden- 
tally fell  from  an  elevated  platform  or  scaffold,  striking  on 
his  head— the  weight  of  the  blow  being  directly  over  and 
under  the  left  eye.  I was  instantly  at  his  side,  and  found 
liim  completely  insensible.  Though  the  shock  was  so  pow- 
erful as  to  produce  temporary  asphyxia,  he  struck  the  ground 
in  such  a manner  as  to  occasion  no  abrasion  of  the  skin. 
Knowing  that  the  electro-nervous  forces  would  naturally 
rush  to  the  seat  of  the  injury,  and  that  the  arterial  circula- 
tion— being  graduated  by  the  distribution  of  vdtal  electricity 
would  immediately  follow  in  a corresponding  degree,  causing 
irregular  vascular  action  and  congestion,  I instantly  set  my- 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT.  2 lo 

self  to  work  to  prevent  any  unpleasant  result.  Applying 
cold  water  to  the  surface — chiefly  with  a view  of  rendering 
the  cuticle  a good  conductor,  so  that  the  accumulated  vital 
electricity  might  readily  escape,  and  the  blood  be  removed 
by  resolution — I commenced,  after  the  magneto-electric 
method,  to  dissipate  the  forces.  I soon  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing a strong  counter  action  and  an  increased  determina- 
tion of  the  electrical  circulation  to  other  points.  Conscious- 
ness and  all  the  voluntary  powers  were  rapidly  restored. 
The  operation  occupied  half  an  hour,  and  resulted  in  the 
complete  removal  of  all  the  consequences  of  the  aceident. 
The  next  day  there  was  not  the  least  soreness  felt,  or  dis- 
coloration visible,  to  indicate  whieh  side  of  the  head  had 
been  injured. 

I need  not  record  the  details  of  the  next  case,  a brief 
comprehensive  statement  being  all  that  is  required.  Mrs. 
Anna  Mills  was  an  acutely  sensitive  person,  with  a finely 
wrought  nervous  system.  She  frequently  suffered  from  acute 
inflammation  of  the  thoracic  and  abdominal  viscera,  and  the 
vital  forces  were  often  deranged  by  the  slightest  causes.  At 
the  time  the  writer’s  services  were  demanded,  a professional 
diagnosis  disclosed  an  extreme  inflammation  of  the  pleura. 
It  was  a critical  case,  that  did  not  yield  to  the  action  of 
medicine  in  the  least  possible  degree.  In  this  instance  the 
most  'perfect  relief  ivas  afforded  in  fifteen  minutes,  and  the 
next  day  the  patient  was  moving  about  the  house,  and  appa 
rently  quite  well. 

In  the  year  1852  a gentleman  who  lived  in  Newark,  N.  J.r 
and  had  there  listened  to  several  lectures  on  the  electrical 
theory  of  the  vital  functions,  called  on  the  writer  and  de- 


244 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


scribed  the  case  of  a young  woman,  eighteen  years  old,  who 
belonged  to  his  circle  of  acquaintance.  The  patient  was 
vitally  strong  and  ordinarily  enjoyed  the  most  vigorous 
health  ; but  at  the  time  she  was  represented  as  suffering  in- 
tensely from  acute  inflammation  in  one  leg.  Her  friend  was 
extremely  anxious  that  I should  personally  attend  to  her 
case  ; but  as  my  sphere  of  action  was  the  platform  rather 
than  the  sick  room,  and  especially  as  my  time  was  much  occu- 
pied, I perseveringly  declined  the  responsibility.  Several 
times  in  the  course  of  one  week  the  gentleman  came  to  me 
and  urged  the  peculiar  claims  of  the  case,  until  at  last  I re- 
luctantly yielded  to  his  repeated  solicitations  and  called  on 
the  patient.  I found  her  suffering  from  a rheumatic  fever 
and  intense  inflammation  of  one  lower  limb,  extending  from 
the  extremity  to  the  hip,  and  affecting  the  joints,  tendons,  and 
all  the  fibrous  textures.  The  limb  was  stretched  at  full 
length,  and  in  a horizontal  position.  It  rested  on  a pillow 
placed  in  one  chair  while  the  patient  was  seated  in  another, 
which  she  had  constantly  occupied  during  tlie  preceding 
seven  days  and  nights,  without  one  hour’s  sleep  or  a single 
moment’s  freedom  from  pain.  Tlic  leg  was  swelled  to  an 
amazing  size,  and  about  the  joints  the  venous  congestion  gave 
the  entire  surface  a dark  purple  appearance. 

On  inquiry  I learned  that  the  physician — in  his  attempt  to 
reduce  the  inflammation — had  depended  chiefly  on  the  appli- 
cation of  a liniment,  that  appeared  to  bo  composed  of  origa- 
num and  other  vegetable  oils.  Feeling  assured  that  the 
application  of  sucli  an  oleaginous  compound  must  of  neces- 
sity check  tlie  insensible  perspiration — whicli  always  fiicili- 
tates  the  escape  of  vital  electricity  from  tlie  body — render 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 


245 


the  cuticle  a non-conductor,  and  thus  increase  the  inflamma- 
tion, I did  not  hesitate  to  express  the  conviction,  (without  an 
intimation  from  any  one  respecting  the  actual  facts  in  the 
case)  that  the  inflammation  had  greatly  increased  since  the 
hirst  appliccdion  of  the  liniment.  My  observation  was  in- 
stantly confirmed  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  whole 
family,  though  all  had  attributed  the  aggravated  symptoms 
to  other  causes  than  he  doctor^s  prescription.  The  case 
afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  to  test  the  reality  of  the 
supposed  discovery,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made.  If  a cure  could  be  effected — agreeably  to  the  electri- 
cal law  involved  in  the  theory,  developed  in  this  treatise^ — I 
had  no  doubt  of  its  speedy  as  well  as  its  certain  accomplish- 
ment. It  was  only  necessary  to  render  the  cuticle  a good 
conductor  of  vital  electricity,  and  then — by  the  proper  appli- 
cation of  an  electrically  negative  body — the  excess  of  the 
subtile  element  would  be  set  free,  its  rapid  diffusion  inevita- 
ble occurring  on  the  conductive  principle. 

I will  here  give  the  simple  treatment  and  the  surprising 
result.  Adding  an  ounce  of  spirits  of  ammonia  to  a pint  of 
cold  water,  I sponged  the  limb  thoroughly,  and  until  the  oily 
substance  was  entirely  removed  from  the  surface.  Then  re- 
laxing the  muscles  of  my  own  arms  and  hands,  by  withdraw- 
ing the  nervous  forces  as  much  as  possible — thus  rendering 
the  extremities  electrically  negative — I commenced  manipu- 
lating lightly — making  the  negative  passes  from  the  highest 
point  to  which  the  inflammation  extended,  to  the  . ends  of  the 
toes.  As  often  as  the  surface  of  the  patient’s  limb  became 
dry  by  the  rapid  process  of  evaporation,  occasioned  by  the 
unusual  heat,  the  wet  sponge  was  again  passed  lightly  over 


246 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tlie  surface,  thus  restoring  and  increasing  the  conducting  ca- 
pacity of  the  cuticle — which  is  always  suspended  in  propor- 
tion as  the  skin  is  deprived  of  its  natural  humidity.’  Thus 
the  manipulations  over  the  moist  surface  were  continued 
without  interruption  for  forty  minutes ; The  inflammation 
was  greatly  reduced,  and  after  the  first  operation  the  patient 
could  move  her  limb  and  had  the  partial  use  of  all  the  joints, 
not  one  of  which  had  been  moved  in  the  least  during  the 
seven  or  eight  days  next  preceding  the  application  of  this 
treatment.  At  the  expiration  of  twelve  hours  I repeated  the 
operation,  occupying  some  forty  minutes,  when  the  patient 
was  relieved  of  all  pain  and  could  support  the  weight  of  her 
body  on  that  limb.  Once  more,  after  a similar  interval  the 
same  treatment  was  again  applied  for  half  an  hour,  where- 
upon the  patient  ran  up  and  down  stairs  without  the  least 
pain  or  inconvenience.  On  the  evening  of  the  next  day  she 
walked  to  Library  Hall,  a distance  of  half  a mile,  to  attend 
a lecture  delivered  by  the  writer — walked  home  again — and 
from  that  time  had  not  the  slightest  symptom  of  inflammation. 

The  reader’s  attention  is  now  invited  to  a case  of  a wholly 
difi’erent  nature.  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Lockwood,  of 
Stamford,  Conn.,  a young  lady  some  twenty  years  of  age, 
had  suffered  long  and  fearfully  (according  to  the  physicians 
who  had  treated  her  case  for  several  years)  from  a spinal 

‘ It  is  well  known  that  when  the  insensible  perspiration  is  arrested  by  cold, 
or  from  any  other  cause,  leaving  the  surface  dry,  it  occasions  fever  ; the  elec- 
tro-thermal, chemical,  and  organic  action,  are  all  rapidly  increased  ; and  this 
derangement  of  the  vital  forces  may  result  in  an  acute  inflammation  of  some 
internal  organ  or  membrane.  When  the  natural  process — whereby  animal 
electricity  is  disengaged  or  set  free— is  thus  suddenly  suspended,  the  vital 
motive  power  inevitably  accumulates,  and  it  is  but  natural  that  the  molecular 
and  organic  motion  should  be  correspondingly  accelerated. 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 


247 


disease,  which  had  resulted  in  a suspension  of  the  peristaltic 
motion  of  the  intestines  ; suppression  of  the  catamenia ; a 
total  paralysis  of  the  lower  limbs,  and  complete  loss  of  the 
voice.  The  treatment  had  been  topical  bleeding,  blisters, 
setons  in  the  back,  etc.  ; and  every  inch  of  the  cuticle,  from 
the  medulla  oblongata  to  the  lower  extremity  of  the  spinal 
column,  gave  evidence  of  the  faithful  application  of  the 
professional  treatment,  which  of  course  had  subserved  no 
good  purpose.  Indeed,  the  poor  victim  of  disease  and  mal- 
practice— like  the  woman  whose  case  is  reported  in  the 
practice  of  Jesus — “ had  suffered  many  things  of  many  phy- 
sicians ....  and  was  nothing  bettered,  but  rather  grew 
worse.’’ — {Mark  v.,  26.) 

When  the  writer  first  called  to  see  Miss  Lockwood,  she 
was  in  many  respects  more  helpless  than  an  infant.  She  had 
no  power  to  move  her  lower  limbs  at  all,  or  even  to  hold  up 
her  head,  and  she  had  not  spoken  above  a whisper  in  eight 
months.  I have  not  space  to  describe  the  precise  method 
adopted  in  her  case.  Suffice  it  to  say,  the  application  of 
the  treatment  was  in  strict  accordance  with  the  principles 
involved  in  the  writer’s  theory.  Concerning  the  result,  the 
patient  may  very  properly  be  permitted  to  speak  for  herself. 
The  following  introduction  to  the  statement  of  Miss  L.  is 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Hoyt,  the  intelligent  and  gentlemanly 
editor  of  the  Advocate,  in  whose  paper  the  letter  was  origi- 
nally published,  in  July,  1850  : — 

FKOM  THE  STAMFOKD  (CONN.)  ADVOCATE. 

“ Mr  Brittan  has  not  only  been  successful  in  explaining  the  philosophy  of 
his  subject,  but  eminently  so  in  the  practical  application  of  the  principles  to 
the  treatment  and  cure  of  some  of  the  most  aggravated  forms  of  disease.  By 
permission  of  the  parties,  we  publish  the  following  communication  from  Miss 


248 


MAN  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


Lockwood.  It  is  a strong  case  ; the  facts  are  generally  known  in  this  com- 
munity, and  may  be  said  to  have  occurred  within  the  sphere  of  our  own  ob- 
servation : — 

Prop.  Brittan  : — Dear  Friend — Actuated  by  a lively  sense  of  the  great  ben- 
efits conferred  by  your  treatment,  I am  constrained  to  make  the  following 
statement  : — 

In  the  Spring  of  1846,  while  at  school,  I began  to  be  troubled  with  a pain 
in  my  side  and  head,  and  extreme  general  debility.  During  the  ensuing  year 
I was  treated  by  two  physicians  of  different  schools,  with  very  indifferent 
success.  In  May,  1847,  another  physician  was  called  to  attend  me  ; but  for 
some  months  I was  absent  from  the  vicinity  of  this  gentleman’s  residence,  and 
his  visits  were  only  occasional  till  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  when,  on  my 
return  home,  very  much  reduced  in  physical  energy,  and  dejected  in  spirits, 
it  became  necessary  for  him  to  attend  me  constantly.  I was  confined  to  my 
bed  for  some  fifteen  or  eighteen  months,  during  the  period  from  1847  to  1850. 
Four  or  five  other  physicians  saw  me  at  different  times,  but  I received  no 
permanent  relief  from  their  prescriptions. 

I wms  virtually  given  up,  my  case  not  admitting  of  a rational  hope  of 
recovery.  I continued  in  a perfectly  helpless  condition  until  April,  1850. 
It  was  impossible  for  me  at  this  time  to  hold  up  my  head,  for  a single 
moment,  or  to  change  my  position  in  the  bed.  Added  to  the  feeble- 
ness of  infancy,  I was  unable  to  find  much  rest  or  sleep.  I suffered  con- 
stantly the  most  acute,  burning  and  painful  sensaf  ions  in  my  head  and  spine. 
My  circulation  was  so  terribly  unbalanced  that  my  limbs  were  almost  as  cold 
as  death.  In  this  situation  you  found  me,  and  justice  requires  me  to  add, 
that  from  this  prostrate  and  seemingly  hopeless  condition  you  have  succeeded 
in  raising  me.  For  the  last  three  or  four  weeks  I have  been  visiting  my 
friends,  and  you  can  not  imagine  how  delighted  I am  that  I am  able  to  go 
out  once  more.  If  it  had  not  been  for  you,  doubtless  I should  have  passed 
many  more  w^earisome  weeks  and  months,  buried  from  the  world  and  all  its 
enjoyments. 

When  1 think  ho  w perfectly  helpless  I was,  when  you  first  saw  mo.  it  seems 
to  me  almost  a miracle  that  you  relieved  me  so  soon.  I can  not  find  words 
to  express  ray  gratitude  to  you.  I think  if  physicians  would  adopt  your 
mode  of  treatment  they  would  be  more  successful  than  they  are  now,  in 
curing  some  diseases,  at  least.  It  is  to  be  very  much  regretted  that  you 
will  not  devote  your  time  to  the  sick.  That  you  personally  may  be  blessed 
with  health,  the  greatest  of  all  blessings,  is  the  wish  of  your  friend, 

Sarah  B.  Lockwood. 

P S. — For  the  information  and  encouragement  of  others,  I will  further  re- 
mark : — While  I do  not  profess  to  understand  the  principles  of  Mr.  Brittan ’s 
electrical  system,  I may  venture  to  speak  with  confidence  of  the  results  in 
my  own  case.  The  third  time  he  called  to  sec  m'>,  1 was  made  to  speak  in  a 


MAGNETISM  AS  A THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 


249 


full  voice,  which  I had  not  done  for  eight  months  ; to  support  myself  on  my 
feet,  and  to  walk  across  the  room.  All  pain  and  nervous  irritability  now 
rapidly  subsided,  and  1 began  to  feel  the  energy  of  new  life  in  evefy  part  of 
my  frame.  During  the  past  month  I seem  to  have  entered  op  a new  existence. 
My  sleep  is  sound,  unbroken  and  refreshing  ; my  appetite  good,  and  I am  rap- 
idly gaining  strength. 

I shall  not  cease  to  hold  in  the  most  grateful  remembrance  the  kind  Prov- 
idence that  placed  me  in  his  care  ; nor  shall  I neglect  to  commend  his  treat 
ment  to  others  who  are  aidicted.  With  much  respect,  yours,  S.  E.  L. 

Stamford,  Conn.,  Jane  2i,  1850. 

With  a brief  citation  of  one  other  case  I must  leave  this 
department  of  my  subject.  I was  once  called  to  the  bed-side 
of  a young  girl  of  some  seventeen  summers,  who  was  raving 
with  the  wildest  delirium.  For  two  days  and  nights  it  had 
required  two  or  three  persons  constantly  to  keep  her  on  the 
bed.  With  my  right  hand  I grasped  both  of  her  hands,  and 
placed  my  left  hand  on  the  patient’s  forehead,  thus  forming 
an  electro-vital  circuit,  by  which  I hoped  to  equalize  the 
electric  forces  of  her  brain  and  nervous  system.  The  vio 
lence  of  the  paroxysm  was  subdued  in  less  than  one  minute. 
The  patient  was  soon  quieted  ; the  pupil  of  the  eye  con- 
tracted, and  the  countenance  rapidly  assumed  a natural  ex- 
pression. The  eyelids,  began  to  droop,  and  in  five  minutes 
she  slept.  I thereupon  disengaged  myself,  and  occupying  a 
seat,  at  a distance  of  two  or  three  yards  from  the  bed,  I 
watdied  the  patient  attentiv_ely.  She  slept  fifteen  minutes 
without  stirring  a muscle,  when  she  opened  her  eyes  in  a per- 
fectly sane  state  ; and  immediately  she  was  clothed^  and  ve- 
mained  in  her  right  mind. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


IMPORTANCE  OP  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 

Magnetism  in  the  treatment  of  Disease — Its  use  in  the  practice  of  Surgery- 
Removal  of  a Cancerous  Breast  by  M.  Cloquet— Singular  ground  of  oppo- 
sition to  Magnetism — Stupidity  of  Dr.  Copeland  and  a Scotch  divine — Dr. 
James  Esdaile’s  practice  in  British  India — Seventy -three  painless' operations 
at  Hoogly — Case  of  Teencowrie  Paulit — Removal  of  a Tumor  weighing 
eighty  pounds — Decisive  Experiments — Opinion  of  Dr.  Esdaile — Magnetism 
prevents  excessive  Hemorrhage  and  subsequent  Inflammation — Further  ob- 
servations— The  Author’s  Experiments — Application  of  Magnetism  in 
Dental  Surgery — Saving  a finger  that  had  been  off  nearly  half  an  hour — 
Scientific  authorities  mistaken — The  Doctors  mortified  instead  of  the  Pa- 
tient’s finger. 

only  are  the  magnetic  processes  of  the  utmost  iim. 
- - ' portance  in  the  treatment  of  al]  neuralgic  affections,  every 
phase  of  inflammation,  chlorosis,  anchylosis  and  paralysis, 
and  likewise  in  removing  sarcoma  and  anasarca,  together 
with  all  abnormal  obstructions  and  morbid  secretions,  by 
increasing  the  electro-anastomotic  action  ; but  it  may  also  be 
employed,  with  most  beneficient  results,  in  the  practice  of 
Surgery.  The  modes  whereby  we  influence  the  distribution 
of  vital  electricity,  enable  the  skillful  operator  to  control 
sensation  in  the  subject  ; and  hence  the  most  difficult,  pro- 
tracted and  painful  surgical  operations  may  be  performed 
without  pain.  Moreover,  that  the  danger  from  hemorrhage, 
and  from  subsequent  inflammation,  is  gi-eatly  diminislicd  by 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 


251 


Magnetism — when  a complete  state  of  coma  lias  been  induced 
— will  scarcely  admit  of  a rational  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any 
one  who  has  witnessed  the  results  of  its  application. 

It  is  now  more  than  a quarter  of  a century  since  M.  Clo- 
quet, an  eminent  surgeon,  removed  a cancerous  breast  from 
a woman  wliile  in  a magnetic  trance,  and  whose  insensibility 
to  pain  during  the  operation  was  demonstrated  to  his  entire 
satisfaction.  Indeed,  the  use  of  Magnetism  was,  for  a time, 
opposed  in  Europe  on  account  of  its  pain-destroying  power — ' 
opposed  by  certain  doctors,  who  probably  loved  to  see  their 
patients  shrink  from  the  knife,  or  writhe  under  the  process  of 
cauterization.  It  is  said  that  the  Royal  Medical  and  Chi- 
rurgical  Society  of  London  received,  with  implied  approba-‘ 
tion,  the  absurd  assumption  of  Dr.  Copeland,  that  patients  , 
ought  to  suffer  while  their  surgeon  is  operating  He  appears 
to  have  regarded  pain,  not  only  as  a wise  and  necessary  pro- 
vision of  Nature,  but  also  as  an  agreeable  pastime  for  those 
who  are  duly  commissioned  by  the  authorities  of  science  and 
law  to  inflict  it  on  their  hapless  victims.  The  science  of  Dr. 
Copeland  was  about  as  remarkable  as  the  piety  of  a stupid 
old  Scotch  divine,  who,  not  long  since,  opposed  the  use  of 
chloroform,  in  obstetric  cases,  as  an  unholy  and  profane  at- 
tempt to  subvert  the  Divine  law,  woman  having  been  visited 
with  a special  curse  because  she  took  the  initiative  in  the  * 
transgression ' 

Isolated  cases,  illustrating  the  use  of  the  magnetic  pro- 
cesses in  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering,  have  occurred 
in  the  experience  of  many  practitioners,  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe  ; but  the  application  of  this  beneficient  agent, 


1 See  Genesis,  Chap.  IIL,  ItRb  verse. 


252 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


in  the  jiractice  of  Dr.  James  Esdaile,  as  surgeon  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  British  East  India  Company,  perhaps  affords  the 
clearest  experimental  demonstrations  of  its  paramount  im- 
portance. He  found  the  natives  of  Bengal  extremely  im- 
pressible, and  a few  trials,  by  himself  or  his  assistants, 
generally  subdued  their  natural  powers  of  resistance,  leaving 
them  in  a state  of  profound  coma,  and  insensible  of  pain.  In 
the  short  period  of  eight  months  he  performed,  at  Hoogly, 
no  less  than  seventy-three  painless  operations  in  surgery,  em- 
bracing among  others  the  dissection  and  amputation  of  dif- 
ferent members  of  the  body,  operations  for  scrotocele  and 
hydrocele,  removal  of  scrotal  and  other  tumorsN  actual 
and  potential  cauteries,  etc.,  etc.  In  these  operations  the 
subjects  were  entirely  deprived  of  physical  sensation  ; with 
rare  exceptions,  they  were  altogether  unconscious,  and  often 
expressed  the  greatest  surprise  on  learning  what  had  been 
done  to  them  during  the  interval  of  oblivious  repose.  The 
operations  were  seldom  followed  by  much  pain  or  inllarnma- 
tion,  and  the  process  of  cicatrization  generally  occurred  by 
the  first  intention. 

In  order  to  give  the  reader — wl^o^rnay  not  have  access  to 
Dr.  Esdaile’s  book — some  idea  of  the  difficult  and  painful 
nature  of  some  of  his  surgical  operations,  and  also  of  the 
benign  influence  and  salutary  results  of  Magnetism  in  such 
cases,  I will  here  refer,  in  a more  explicit  manner,  to  two 
cases.  Teencowrie  Paulit,  of  the  age  of  forty  years,  ha. 
been  “ suffering  for  two  years,  from  a tumor  in  the  antnun 
maxillare,^’  which— in  the  language  of  the  doctor — had 
|)ushed  up  the  orbit  of  the  eye,  filled  the  nose,  passed  into 
the  throat,  and  caused  an  enlargement  of  tlic  glands  of  the 


IMPORTANCE  OP  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 


253 


neck.”  Respiration  was  rendered  so  difficult  that  he  had 
slept  but  very  little  for  five  months.  After  repeated  and 
fruitless  trials  on  tlie  part  of  Dr.  Esdaile^s  assistants,  the 
doctor  himself  at  last  made  the  effort,  and  succeeded,  in 
about  forty-live  minutes,  in  producing  the  state  of  magnetic 
catalepsy,  when  he  at  once  proceeded  to  remove  the  tumor — 
the  operation  being  one  of  the  most  protracted  and  painful 
in  surgery — and  the  patient  being  all  the  while  in  a comatose 
and  unconscious  state.  The  following  extract  is  from  Dr. 
Esdaile’s  description  of  the  operation  : 

“ I put  a long  knife  in  at  the  corner  of  his  mouth,  and  brought  the  point 
out  over  the  cheek-bone,  dividing  the  parts  between  ; from  this  I pushed  it 
through  the  skin  at  the  inner  corner  of  the  eye,  and  dissected  the  cheek  back 
to  the  nose.  The  presence  of  the  tumor  had  caused  the  absorption  of  the 
anterior  wall  of  the  antrum,  and  on  pressing  my  fingers  between  it  and  the 
bones,  it  burst,  and  a shocking  gush  of  blood  and  brain-like  matter  followed. 
The  tumor  extended  as  far  as  my  fingers  could  reach  under  the  orbit  and 
cheek-bone,  and  passed  into  the  gullet,  having  destroyed  the  bones  and  par- 
tition of  the  nose.  No  one  touched  the  man,  and  I turned  his  head  into 
any  position  I desired,  without  resistance,  and  there  it  remained  until  I 
wished  to  move  it  again.  When  the  blood  accumulated,  I bent  his  head  for- 
ward, and  it  ran  from  his  mouth  as  from  a leaden  spout.  The  man  never 
moved,  nor  showed  any  signs  of  life,  except  an  occasional  indistinct  moan  ; 
but  when  I threw  back  his  head,  and  passed  my  fingers  into  his  throat  to  de- 
tach the  mass  in  that  direction,  the  stream  of  blood  was  directed  into  his 
wind-pipe,  and  some  instinctive  effort  became  necessary  for  existence  ; he 
therefore  coughed,  and  leaned  forward,  to  get  rid  of  the  blood  5 and  I sup- 
posed that  he  then  awoke.  The  operation  was  by  this  time  finished,  and  he 
was  laid  on  the  floor  to  have  his  face  sewed  up  ; and  while  this  was  being 
done,  he  for  the  first  time  opened  his  eyes.” 

The  man  subsequently  declared,  in  the  most  unequivocal 
manner,  and  with  peculiar  emphasis,  that  he  experienced  no 


254 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


pain  during  the  operation  ; and  it  appeared  that  not  only  the 
coughing,  but  even  the  forward  movement,  to  pi^event  suffo- 
cation by  discharging  the  blood,  ’was  involuntarily  and  un- 
consciously performed.  When  the  wounds  were  dressed — on 
the  third  day  after  the  operation — it  was  found  that  the  parts 
were  united  throughout  by  the  first  intention,  and  the  man 
could  both  breathe  freely  and  speak  plainly.' 

The  case  of  Gooroochuan  Shah,  a native  shop-keeper,  is 
perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  of  its  class  on  record.  He 
had  a tumor  of  almost  incredible  dimensions.  For  years  it 
had  served  him  as  a “ luriting-deskJ^  This  enormous,  mass, 
weighing  eighty  pounds,  was  removed  by  Dr.  Esdaile  while 
the  man  was  in  a death-like  sleep  that  suspended  all  the 
powers  of  sensation.  When  the  patient  was  restored  to 
consciousness,  he  affirmed  that  “ nothing  had  disturbed  him.” 
Had  the  tumor  been  removed  while  the  man  was  awake,  and 
the  voluntary  powers  of  his  mind  actively  employed,  it  is  not 
probable  that  he  could  have  survived  the  operation.  On 
this  point  Dr.  Esdaile  expresses  his  opinion  as  follows  : 

“ I think  it  extremely  likely  that,  if  the  circulation  had  been  hurried  by  pain 
and  struggling  ; or,  if  the  shock  to  the  system  had  been  increased  by  bodily  and  menial 
anguish,  the  man  would  have  bled  to  death  ; or  never  have  rallied  from  the  effects 
of  the  operation.  But  the  sudden  loss  of  blood  was  all  he  had  to  contend 
against ; and,  though  in  so  weak  a condition,  he  has  surmounted  this,  and 
gone  on  very  well.”^ 

In  five  weeks  Gooroochuan  Shah  was  so  far  recovered  that 
he  was  permitted  to  leave  the  hospital  and  return  liome. 

Skepticism  on  a subject  of  this  nature  was  excusable  in  the 


' American  edition  of  Mesmerism  in  India,  pp.  14G-49 
2 Ibid,  pp.  221,  222. 





IMPORTANCE  OF  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 


255 


time  of  Mesmer,  but  at  this  late  day  it  is  only  compatible 
with  a most  incorrigible  indifference  and  a mournful  destitu- 
tion of  all  knowledge  on  a subject  of  great  moment.  The 
domain  of  accredited  science  comprehends  no  phenomena 
more  real,  or  more  susceptible  of  a clear  and  triumphant 
authentication  and  defense,  than  those  developed  by  the  mag- 
netic processes  ; and  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  any  that 
more  deeply  concern  the  vital  interests  of  mankind.  To 
say  nothing  of  the  psychological  phases  of  the  phenomena, 
the  physiological  effects  are  such  as  can  neither  be  counter- 
feited nor  mistaken.  Sensation  and  voluntary  motion  are 
often  wholly  suspended  ] the  limbs  become  rigid,  preserving 
any  position  in  which  they  may  be  placed  by  the  operator  ; 
and  sometimes  the  thoracic  movement  is  completely  arrested. 
Those  who  £fre  suffering  from  a serious  derangement  of  the 
nervous  forces,  and  in  consequence  experience  extreme  pain, 
or  a partial  suspension  of  the  power  of  voluntary  motion,  in 
certain  portions  of  the  system,  often  find  that  the  magnetic 
sleep  results  in  an  equilibration  of  the  vital  motive  power, 
and  hence  of  the  entire  circulation.  The  arterial  action  and 
the  respiration  are  invariably  diminished  by  the  magnetic 
processes,  and  the  temperature  of  the  body  falls  in  the  same 
proportion.  Hence  the  efficacy  of  magnetic  manipulations 
and  the  consequent  state  of  coma  in  subduing  fever  and 
inflammation.  Under  the  mysterious  spell,  the  eyes  roll 
wildly  about  the  orbit  as  the  magnetic  needle  oscillates  when 
suddenly  acted  on  ; the  iris  loses  its  contractibility  under 
the  strongest  hydro-oxygen  light ; neither  muriatic  acid  nor 
a hot  iron  applied  to  the  flesh  occasions  the  slightest  pain  ; 
the  strongest  fumes  of  liquid  ammonia  make  no  impression 


256 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


on  the  olfactory  surfaces  ; and  the  discharge  of  heavily 
loaded  firearms  close  to  the  ear,  will  not  in  the  least  disturb 
the  unconscious  sleeper.  It  will  be  in  vain  to  look  for  the 
ex'perimentum  crucis  elsewhere,  if  it  may  not  be  found  in 
these  various  and  wonderful  phenomena. 

Tliat  all  the  effects  produced,  on  and  through  the  motive 
and  sensorial  medium  of  the  living  body,  are  occasioned 
by  the  irregular  distribution  and  consequent  action  of  vital 
electricity,  we  have  no  room  to  doubt.  While  Dr.  Esdaile 
does  not  to  attempt  to  furnish  a philosophy  of  the  facts, 
developed  in  his  interesting  experience,  he  drops  occasional 
observations  from  which  it  appears,  that  he  more  than  sus- 
pected that  all  the  magnetic  phenomena  depended  on  the  ca-, 
pacity  of  tlie  operator  to  give  a new  direction  to  the  nervous 
circulation,  and  thus  to  either  increase  or  diminish  the  action 
at  the  centers  of  nervous  energy.  On  this*  point  he  thus 
suggests  the  view  he  is  inclined  to  entertain  : 

“It  seems  to  me  that  irregularity  in  the  distribution  of  the  nervous  energy 
is  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  mesmeric  symptoms,  however  produced,  whether 
naturally  or  artificially ; and  I suspect  that  the  same  efiects  may  follow  a 
state  of  exhaustion  or  repletion  of  the  nervous  system.”^ 

When  the  patient  is  conscious  during  the  performance  of 
a surgical  operation,  and  the  voluntary  faculties  of  the  mind 
are  fully  aroused  and  painfully  excited,  the  mental  forces 
will  inevitably  be  concentrated  at  the  point  where  the  injury 
is  inflicted.  The  electrical  currents  are  tlius  increased  in 
tliat  particular  direction,  and  their  action  greatly  intensified; 
and  as  the  distribution  of  this  agent  graduates  the  measure 


‘ Mesmerism  in  India,  p.  131. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 


257 


and  the  motion  of  the  blood  and  all  the  animal  fluids,  it 
follows  of  necessity  that  the  arterial  tide  is  augmented  in 
tlie  same  direction,  and  in  a corresponding  degree,  produc- 
ing excessive  hemorrhage  ; while  tliis  concentrated  electri- 
cal action,  at  the  seat  of  the  injury,  increases  the  subsequent 
tendency  to  inflammation. 

But  the  loss  of  blood,  and  the  danger  of  inflammation  in 
all  surgical  operations,  must  be  greatly  diminislied  by  the 
magnetic  sleep.  No  careful  observer  of  the  facts  in  the  case 
will  be  disposed  to  question  this,  and  whoever  discerns  the 
laws  that  regulate  the  vital  action,  and  the  circulation  of  the 
fluids  in  animal  and  human  bodies,  will  be  able  to  compre- 
hend, at  least  in  part,  the  philosophy  of  these  effects.  When 
the  patient  is  insensible  of  pain,  and  unconscious  of  the  in- 
jury inflicted,  the  general  circulation  is  undisturbed  by  any 
excited  action  of  the  mind.  There  is  no  sudden  agitation 
of  the  fountain  of  life ; the  arterial  currents  move  through 
their  channels  with  a steady,  rhythmical  flow,  under  the  nor- 
mal play  of  the  electric  forces  on  the  vital  organs.  All  this 
is  confirmed  by  the  following  observations  of  Dr.  Esdaile, 
founded  on  the  results  of  his  numerous  experiments.  Hav- 
ing in  view  the  importance  of  Magnetism  in  the  practice  of 
Surgery,  he  says  : 

“ The  benefits  are  not  confined  to  the  extinction  of  pain  during  the  oper- 
ation, but  are  of  the  greatest  general  and  particular  advantage  in  the  after- 
treatment  of  surgical  diseases.  The  nerves  and  brain  have  not  been  shat- 
tered by  bodily  and  mental  anguish,  which  generally  excites  an  irritative 
fever  in  the  system,  wasting  the  powers  of  life,  and  rousing  local  infiamma- 
tion  in  the  injured  part ; thereby  often  destroying  all  the  hopes  and  precau- 
tions of  the  surgeon.  In  the  mesmeric  sleep,  only  the  necessary  local  in- 
jury has  been  inflicted  ; and  on  awaking,  the  patient  sometimes  feels  no  pain 
whatever,  and  generally  only  a slight  smarting  in  the  wound  ; and  the  consti- 


258 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tution  sets  about  repairing  the  breach  of  substance  quietly,  and  under  the 
best  possible  circumstances.  If  local  pains  follow,  they  can  be  easily  re- 
moved by  topical  manipulations.”^ 

Of  necessity  tlie  writer’s  own  opportunities  to  witness  the 
application  of  Magnetism  in  practical  surgery,  have  been 
very  limited  ; and  yet  I am  not  without  a small  experience 
even  in  this  department.  On  one  occasion— some  years 
since — I magnetized  the  wife  of  a clergyman,  who  had  nine 
decayed  teeth  extracted  without  once  breaking  the  spell. 
On  the  restoration  of  sensation  and  consciousness,  she  was 
most  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  the  cause  of  long  and 
severe  suffering  had  been  completely  removed,  without  in* 
dieting  upon  her  sensitive  nature  a single  pang.  Indeed,  all 
persons  who  are  susceptible  of  this  state  of  complete  coma, 
may  have  the  sensories  temporarily  paralyzed  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  magnetizer.  The  skin  may  be  punctured  and  tlie  flesh 
lacerated,  and  yet  the  sleeper  will  feel  no  pain  ; though  it 
is  worthy  of  observation  that  he  is  keenly  sensitive  to  the 
slightest  personal  violence  that  may  be  done  to  the  operator. 

Some  ten  years  since,  while  the  writer  was  living  in  Stam- 
ford, Conn.,  Mr.  C.  P.  Price,  who  lived  in  an  adjoining 
house,  accidentally  cut  off  the  end  of  tlie  indfex  finger  of  his 
left  hand,  while  employed  in  cutting  liay  for  Ids  horse.  Mr. 
P.  walked  directly  to  the  house,  leaving  the  dissevered  por- 
tion of  his  finger  in  the  hay  at  the  barn.  One  after  another, 
the  physicians,  to  the  number  of  three,  were  sent  for  but 
tliey  were  all  absent.  In  tins  emergency  the  writer  was 
called  in— when  some  twenty  minutes  had  elapsed  after  the 
accident — and  the  separated  portion  of  the  finger  was  quite 


1 Dr.  Esdaile-'s  Journal,  Chap.  VII.,  pp.  189,  190. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MAGNETISM  IN  SURGERY. 


259 


cold.  • But  I conceived  the  idea  that  if  it  were  properly 
adjusted  to  tlie  stump,  and  the  electro-vital  action  could  be 
restored  by  magnetic  manipulations,  it  migiit  be  possible 
to  restore  it.  Accordingly,  I procured  tlie  end  of  the  fin- 
ger and  adjusted  it  as  accurately  as  possible,  with  the  aid 
of  the  needle  and  several  narrow  strips  of  adhesive  plaster. 
When  this  was  properly  done,  I commenced  the  magneto- 
electric action,  making  the  passes  from  above  the  third  joint 
to  the  end  of  the  finger.  This  was  continued  until  the 
natural  temperature  was  restored  to  the  dissevered  portion, 
when  it  was  carefully  bound  up  in  brown  sugar  and  spirits. 

At  night,  when  the  doctors  returned,  tliey  were  disposed 
to  amuse  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  writer  and  his 
patient.  Of  course  the  village  authorities  in  medical  science 
all  concurred  in  the  opinion,  that  it  was  impossible  to  save 
the  finger,  and  that  it  would  inevitably  mortify.  However,  it 
united  completely  by  the  first  intention,  and  in  three  iveeks  it 
was  entirely  well,  except  that  the  sensation  was  not  quite  as 
acute  as  before,^  If  the  doctors  never  put  on  limbs  when 
amputation  has  occurred  accidently,  it  must  be  confessed 
that  they  make  up  for  every  such  deficiency  by  the  cheerful 
grace  with  which  they  cut  them  ojBf ! 

“ They  laugh  at  scars  who  never  felt  a wound. 

' It  is  worthy  of  record,  that  not  long  after  the  occurrence  already  de- 
scribed— while  I w^as  far  from  home — a youthful  member  of  the  writer’s 
family  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  two  fingers  in  the  same  machine.  On  this 
occasion,  Dr.  Lockwood  (one  of  the  physicians  just  referred  to  as  having 
witnessed  the  results  of  my  own  experiment  on  Mr.  Price)  was  immediately 
called,  but  lie  mado  no  effort  to  save  the  fingers. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


Illusions  of  the  Senses — How  to  test  the  accuracy  of  our  Perceptions — Objects 
and  their  Shadows -Descartes’  theory — Newton’s  discovery — The  Mirage 
on  the  Eastern  deserts — The  Fata  Morgana,  seen  at  the  Straits  of  Messina 
— M.  Monge's  Explanation  before  the  institute  at  Cairo,  in  Egypt — The 
forms  of  Ideas — The  Phantom  World — Philosophy  of  Sensorial  Illusions — 
Illustrations  from  Dr.  Ambercrombie— Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  Ocular  Spectra 
— The  sense  of  Hearing  deceived — Louis  Brabant,  the  Ventriloquist,  and 
the  beautiful  Heiress — Personation  of  the  Father’s  ghost — The  Banker  of 
Lyons  and  his  ideal  Visitors — Louis  obtains  a fortune  and  marries  his 
Mistress— M.  St.  Gill  in  a Convent— Remarkable  Ventriloquial  power — 
Chanting  to  a Voice — The  Phantom  Hosts  of  Disease  and  Dissipation 


HE  organs  of  sensation  do  not  always  convey  correct  in- 


formation to  the  mind.  When  the  coporeal  instruments 
are  not  imperfect  in  their  structure,  or  their  general  integrity 
otherwise  impaired,  the  functions  may  still  be  temporarily  de- 
ranged by  the  improper  distribution  of  the  medium  of  vital 
motion  and  sensation.  The  subtile  agent  that  transmits  the 
images  of  outward  objects  to  the  sensorium,  may  possibly  be 
so  disturbed,  from  causes  within  and  without,  as  to  occa- 
sion all  sorts  of  illusions,  and 


deceive  us  witli  their  mysterious  semblance  of  reality.  The 
slightest  organic  imperfection  may  change  the  general  ap- 
pearance, or  modify  the  particular  aspects  of  the  whole  ob- 
jective creation.  Whenever  the  nature  of  tlic  case  suggests 


strange  phantoms,  rising  as  the  mists  arise,” 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


201 


tlie  possibility  of  deception,  it  is  proper  to  test  the  ro^ela- 
tions  of  one  sense  by  tlie  exercise  of  all  the  others,  (so  far 
as  they  may  be  employed  in  the  trial,)  and  by  the  aid  of 
Reason.  It  is  seldom  that  an  illusion  of  more  than  one 
sense  occurs  at  tlie  same  time  ; and  hence,  if  we  have  the 
concurrent  testimony  of  two  or  more  of  the  senses  to  the 
fact  of  the  existence  or  occurrence  of  any  outward  object  or 
event,  the  probability  of  our  being  deceived  by  sensorial  il- 
lusions is  greatly  diminished  ; and  the  strength  of  the  evi- 
dence— of  the  reality  of  what  appears  to  have  an  objective 
existence — is  increased  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  these 
witnesses  and  the  general  coherence  of  their  testimony. 

Wherever  substantial  things  exist  we  may  reasonably  ex- 
pect to  find  their  shadows,  more  or  less  clearlj^  defined,  and 
as  widely  varied  as  the  nature  of  the  objects  themselves,  the 
degrees  of  light — state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  strength 
and  clearness  of  the  individual  powers  of  perception.  The 
irisated  arch  has  its  secondary  bow,  formed  by  the  second 
reflection  and  refraction  of  the  sun’s  rays,  and  these  are  seg- 
ments of  concentric'  circles.  Descartes  doubtless  furnished 
the  true  theory  of  the  exterior  bow,  in  his  Dioptrics  ; and 
the  philosophy  of  this  splendid  meteoric  phenomenon  was 
clearly  explained — and  the  disposition  of  the  colors  in  the 
solar  spectrum  accounted  for — by  Newton’s  great  discovery 
of  the  unequal  refrangibility  of  the  different  primal  rays. 
The  shadows  or  images  of  natural  objects  often  appear  at 
great  distances  from  the  bodies  they  represent,  as  in  eclipses 
of  the  sun  and  moon  and  the  transits  of  the  planets.  But 
the  optical  phenomenon  known  as  the  mirage,  offers  a more 
suggestive  illustration.  This  is  sometimes  seen  by  the  trav- 


2G2 


MAN"  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


eler  on  the  great  Eastern  deserts,  but  more  frequently  by 
persons  at  sea.  Ships  have  been  perceived  and  recognized  at 
the  distance  of  thirty  miles  or  more — even  before  they  were 
visible  above  the  horizon’s  verge — by  their  inverted  images 
seen  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  atmosphere.  This  singular 
illusion — known  among  the  Italians  as  the  Fata  Morgana — 
is  perhaps  nowhere  more  perfect  than  atong  the  Straits  of 
Messina,  where,  if  we  may  credit  the  testimony  of  travelers, 
the  various  objects  on  shore  are  represented  with  remarka- 
ble fidelity  in  the  aerial  regions  above  the  sea.  M.  Monge, 
who  read  a philosophical  paper  on  the  subject,  before  the 
Institute  at  Cairo — at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Egypt  by 
the  French — referred  this  singular  phenomenon  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  density  of  the  upper  and  lower  strata  of  the 
atmosphere.  He  supposed  that  the  rays  coming  from  the 
lower  portions  of  the  atmospheric  heavens  are  refracted  by 
coming  in  contact  with  a stratum  of  air  of  different  density, 
and  in  such  a manner  as  to  produce  the  images  of  terrestrial 
objects  in  the  sky. 

The  laws  of  light  and  the  philosophy  of  vision  may  possi- 
bly aid  us  to  suggest  the  proper  explanation  of  many  optical 
and  spectral  illusions.  It  is  worthy  of  observation  that 
ideas  have  forms  ^ which  are  only  imperfectly  represented  in 
their  material  incarnation  ; and  a mental  conception  may  be 
sufficiently  forcible  to  leave  a distinct  image  seemingly  before 
the  eye  as  well  as  the  mind.  When  the  electric  forces  of  the 
brain  are  deranged,  and,  especially,  when  they  arc  greatly 
intensified  in  their  action,  from  whatever  cause,  the  ideal 
images  become  so  vivid  that  they  may  he  duplicated  by  reflec- 
tion, and  thus  be  made  to  assume  every  appearance  of  out- 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


263 


standing  forms  of  the  objective  creation.  A whole  Phantom 
World  is  tlius  suddenly  called  into  being.  The  fantastic 
shapes  stand  by  tlie  midnight  watcher  in  his  lonely  vigil  ; 
they  haunt  the  imtenanted  houses ; they  appear  in  the  dim 
twilight  about  graveyards  ; they  are  multitudinous  in  the  de- 
serted halls  of  old  castles  ; and  they  start  out  from  the  deep 
shadows  of  every*  venerable  ruin  ; while  the  guilty  man 
hears  their  low  wail  in  the  autumn  winds,  or  their  footsteps 
in  the  rustling  of  the  leaves.  The  brain  and  the  visual  organs 
become  a kind  of  'phantasmagoria^  the  images  of  what 'is 
within  being  cast  up  from  the  cerebral  camera,  and  made  to 
appear  like  tangible  objects.  Even  in  the  broad  light  of  day 

“ The  soul — 

Wrapt  in  strange  visions  of  the  unreal, 

paints  the  illusive  form.”  * 

That  our  ideas  and  emotions  do,  in  some  important  sense, 
take  forms,  and  are  ultimated  or  expressed  outside  of  our 
selves,  even  at  a dtstance,  is  made  evident  from  the  capacity 
of  thousands  to  take  impressions  from  other  minds,  through 
some  silent  agent  and  by  an  invisible  process.  Moreover, 
if  ideas  or  mental  conceptions,  by  their  more  direct  action, 
occasion  a similar  electrical  excitation  at  the  sensorium,  to 
that  which  is  produced  by  external  objects  through  the  subtile 
medium  that  pervades  the  optic  nerve,  it  must  be  obvious 
that  our  ideas  may — when  conceived  with  sufficient  energy — 
assume  visible  forms.  In  every  case  where  tangible  objects 
are  presented  to  the  eye,  their  images  are  subjective.  In  other 
words,  the'y  are  all  in  the  brain,  and  remain  more  or  less  per- 
fectly defined  when  the  material  forms  have  been  withdrawn 
•from  the  outward  field  of  observation.  Though  the  objects 


2G4 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


themselves  are  outstanding,  the  pictures  presented  in  the  oc- 
ular spectrum  arc  all  in  the  man,  doubtless  on  the  choroid 
membrane,  or  the  second  coat  of  the  eye.  When  the  images 
are  derived  from  external  forms,  they  are  transmitted  by 
means  of  the  electrical  excitation  at  the  extremity  of  the 
optic  nerve,  occasioned  by  the  rays  of  light  reflected  from 
the  surfaces  of  such  objects.  That  an  intense  mental  ac- 
tion and  cerebral  excitement  may  suffice  to  produce  similar 
pictures  on  the  same  delicate  membrane,  and  that  such  im- 
ages would  appear  to  be  objective — perhaps  at  a distance 
from  the  observer — there  can  be  no  occasion  for  a rational 
doubt.  Thus  it  appears  that  highly  imaginative  persons, 
whose  thoughts  and  passions  are  strongly  conceived  and  pow- 
erfully exercised,  sometimes  project  images  of  their  ideal 
conceptions  fi*om  the  brain,  and  are  startled  on  beholding  the 
forms  of  their  own  creation. 

Some  of  the  phrenologists  profess  to  have  discovered  and 
located  a particular  organ,  whose  office  ii  said  to  be  the.  pro- 
duction of  spectral  illusions  ; *but  this  assumption  does  not  so 
well  accord  with  the  facts  in  the  case  as  tho  view  in  which 
they  are  regarded  as  reflex  images  of  ideas,  produced  by  the 
retroactive  powers  of  the  mind,  more  or  less  clearly  defined 
according  to  the  distinctness  of  the  primary  image.  Dr. 
Abercrombie  refers  to  the  experience  of  Dr.  Ferriar,  who, 
after  viewing  any  interesting  natural  scenery,  a military 
review,  or  some  venerable  ruin,  could  reproduce  the  whole 
picture  at  pleasure — whenever  he  had  occasion  to  retire  to  a 
dark  room— and  with  all  the  apparent  reality  and  brilliancy 
of  the  real  scene  as  actually  viewed  by  daylight.  The  same 
author  speaks  of  a man  who  had  been  looking  steadily,  and 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


205 


with  intense  interest,  at  a picture  of  the  Virgin,  until—on 
suddenly  raising  his  head — he  was  startled  and  amazed  at 
beholding  the  same  figure  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  apart- 
ment. Sir  Isaac  Newton  appears  to  have  been  the  first 
really  scientific  observer  of  the  phenomena  of  ocular  spectra. 
Concerning  his  observations  in  this  direction,  I extract  the 
following  passage  from  a popular  author,  already  named  in 
this  connection  : 

“ When  he  produced  a spectrum  of  the  sun  by  looking  at  it  with  the  right 
eye,  the  left  being  uncovered,  upon  uncovering  the  left,  and  looking- upon  a 
white  ground,  a spectrum  of  the  sun  was  seen  with  it  also.  He  likewise  ac- 
quired the  power  of  recalling  the  spectra,  after  they  had  ceased,  when  he 
went  into  the  dark,  and  directed  his  mind  intensely,  ‘ as  when  a man  looks 
earnestly  to  see  a thing  which  is  difficult  to  be  seen.’  By  repeating  these  ex- 
periments frequently,  such  an  effect  was  produced  on  his  eyes,  ‘ that  for 
some  months  after,’  he  says,  ‘ the  spectrum  of  the  sun  began  to  return  as 
often  as  I began  to  meditate  upon  the  phenomena,  even  though  1 lay  in  bed 
at  midnight  with  my  curtains  drawn.’  ” ^ 

If  you  Stop  in  the  street  with  the  attention  fixed,  and 
— pointing  in  a particular  direction — you  proceed  in  an 
earnest  manner  to  describe  a balloon  which  you  have  just 
discovered  at  a great  altitude,  you  will  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  about  one  in  three  or  five  of  the  bystanders — after 
gazing  for  a few  moments — will  be  able  to  see  it,  though  no 
such  thing  exists  save  as  an  ideal  image.  Thus  the  more  sus- 
ceptible and  imaginative  observers  discern  the  form  of  a 
mental  image  or  conception,  produced  by  the  cunning  device 
of  a trickster,  aided  by  the  psycho-dynamic  action  of  their 
own  minds.  The  psychological  hallucinations,  of  which  I 

^ “ Inquires  concerning  the  Intellectual  Powers,  etc.,”  by  John  Aber- 
crombie, M.  D.,  F.R.S.  Harper’s  Edition,  p.  64. 


266 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sliall  treat  m another  Chapter,  are  in  part  illustrations  of 
this  class.  The  sense  of  hearing  is  often  deceived  in  a sim- 
ilar manner,  by  the  remarkable  ventriloquial  powers  of 
certain  persons — different  voices  appearing  to  proceed  from 
above  and  beneath,  and  likewise  from  various  localities  re- 
mote from  the  position  occupied  by  the  speaker.  This  enter- 
taining deception  altogether  depends  on  a skillful  imitation 
of  sounds,  assisted  by  the  capacity  of  the  hearer  to  assign 
them  any  specific  locality,  that  may  be  determined  by  his 
preconceived  idea. 

' It  is  now  a century  and  a half  since  the  English  aristo- 
cracy and  the  whole  fashionable  world,  in  and  about  the 
British  Metropolis,  attended,  night  after  night,  to  witness  the 
performances  of  the  celebrated  Tom  King,  the  crowning 
feature  of  which  consisted  in  killing  a calf.  The  ventrilo- 
quist retired  behind  a screen  where  the  whole  performance 
was  enacted.  The  animal  was  dragged  in,  the  dog  barked, 
several  men  conversed  respecting  the  value  of  the  animal, 
the  price  paid,  and  the  prospective  profits  of  the  investment, 
all  of  which  was  accompanied  by  the  sounds  of  knife,  and 
steel,  and  rope,  following  in  immediate  succession.  At  tlie 
very  instant  of  the  catastrophe  the  curtain  was  removed 
when  only  King  remained — quietly  seated  in  liis  cliair  ; the 
calf,  a dog,  and  three  butchers  having  been  kindly  supplied 
by  the  imaginations  of  his  polite  hearers.’ 

An  interesting  story  is  related  of  Louis  Brabant,  who  was 
valet  de  charabre  to  Francis  I.  The  accomplished  but  mis- 
chievous Louis  was  deeply  enamored  with  a young  lady  who 
j)ossessed  all  the  attractions  of  youth,  beauty  and  wealth  ; 


' Blake’s  Eacyclopcdia— Art.,  Ventriloquism,  p.  933. 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


26T 


but  lie  had  been  rejected  by  her  parents  on  account  of  his 
Inferiority  in  rank  and  fortune.  At  length  the  father  of  the 
beautiful  heiress  departed  this  life,  and  Erabant  soon  found 
an  occasion  to  visit  the  widow  and  her  daughter.  During 
the  interview  he  was  successful  in  personating  the  deceased 
husband  and  father.  The  widow  was  most  impressively 
addressed  by  a voice  so  much  like  that  of  her  husband,  that 
she  was  forced  to  believe  that  he  had  spoken  to  her  from 
within  the  vail.  The  oracular  shade  commanded  her  to  give 
the  daugliter  to  their  guest— who  was  worthy  of  her — and  he 
declared  that  he  was  himself  suffering  the  pains  of  purgatory 
for  having  refused  his  consent  to  their  union.  Of  course 
young  Brabant  was  politely  complimented  as  a man  of  fine 
accomplishments  and  an  excellent  character.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  add,  that  with  this  emphatic  indorsement  from 
on  higli,  the  venerable  matron  decided  to  accept  the  unscru- 
pulous valet  for  her  son-in-law/ 

But  the  drama  was  not  yet  complete.  Tlie  next  scene 
opened  at  Lyons  in  the  mansion  of  a rich  banker  by  the  name 
of  Cornu.  After  cultivating  this  man’s  acquaintance  and 
acquiring  his  confidence  in  a good  degree,  he  one  day  inter- 
ested him  in  a conversation  concerning  the  Invisible  World. 
During  the  interview,  the  banker  heard  the  voices  of  his 
father,  and  other  deceased  relations,  commanding  him  in  the 
name  of  God  to  assist  his  guest  by  giving  him  a large  sum 
of  money,  for  a certain  humane  and  religious  object.  The 
cunning  valet  did  not  omit  to  affect  the  utmost  surprise  on 
the  occasion,  accompanied  by  expressive  signs  of  awe  and 
apprehension.  Cornu  took  time  to  deliberate,  his  avarice, 
however — more  than  anything  in  the  nature  of  the  perform- 

17 


268 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS 


ance — liaving  excited  his  suspicions.  The  ghosts  were 
more  imperative  at  a subsequent  interview,  and  the  banker 
could  no  longer  resist  the  voices  which  appeare*d  to  come 
from  above,  and  with  the  authority  of  Heaven.  Cornu 
yielded  to  the  mysterious  oracles,  and  Louis  Brabant  re- 
turned to  Paris  with  ten  thousand  crowns,  and  soon  after 
led  the  object  of  his  idolatry  to  the  altar/ 

Mons.  St.  Gill,  the  ventriloquist,  having  on  one  occasion 
sought  shelter  from  a storm  in  a Convent,  found  the  commu- 
nity overshadowed  by  a great  bereavement.  The  fraternity 
had  just  been  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  dis^tinguished  mem- 
bers. While  M.  St.  Gill  was  standing  by  the  tomb— in  con- 
versation with  several  persons  who  accompanied  him,  and 
who  spoke  witli  much  feeling  of  the  virtues  and  graces  of  the 
defunct — the  voice  of  the  departed  was  suddenly  heard  in 
tones  of  deep  lamentation  and  words  of  stern  reproof.  The 
voice  seemed  to  fall  from  the  roof  of  the  choir,  and  to  inspire 
emotions  of  the  deepest  solemnity  in  the  minds  of  all  who 
were  present.  The  shade  complained,  as  in  the  former  case, 
that  he  was  in  purgatory,  and  he  solicited  the  performance 
of  special  religious  services  in  his  own  behalf  The  wliole 
community  was  immediately  called  together,  and  wliile  they 
were  chanting,  a De  Profundis,  in  a full  choir,  the  gliost  em- 
ployed the  occasion — during  the  intervals  in  the  performance 
to  express  his  satisfaction,  and  to  intimate  the  timely  relief 
derived  from  their  devotional  exercises. 

The  phantoms  that  haunt  the  minds  of  tlie  sick  are  very 
numerous  and  greatly  diversified.  They  often  take  form  and 
appear  to  the  sense  of  vision  as  independent  objects,  and 
the  patient  never  suspects  that  he  has  liad  anytliing  to  do 


THE  PHANTOM  CREATION. 


269 


witli  their  origin  or  continued  existence.  A patient  when 
recovering  from  the  measles — so  observes  Dr.  Abercrombie 
— saw  all  objects  diminished  to  the  smallest  discernible  pro- 
portions. When  a patient  who  had  typhoid  fever  began  to 
convalesce,  he  all  at  once  discovered  that  he  was  ten  feet 
high,  and  that  his  bed  was  about  eight  feet  from  the  floor  ! 
The  same  author  mentions,  on  the  authority  of  Baron  Larry, 
the  case  of  a gentleman  who — after  being  partially  cured  of 
amaurosis — saw  all  objects  immensely  magnified  ; and  it  is 
also  recorded  of  the  mnn  whom  Jesus  restored,  tliat  he  saw 
“ men  as  trees  walking.'^  The  writer  once  had  a singular 
experience  that  may  be  noticed  here.  I was  suffering  from  a 
bilious  fever,  and  for  many  days  could  see  my  own  body,  and 
conceive  of  myself,  only  as  a pile  of  hickory  plank  by  the 
road-side . Being  greatly  worn  and  attenuated  by  a long^ 
confinement,  it  was  not  without  an  adequate'  reason  that^ 
I was  constantly  troubled  by  great  pressure  on  the  bottom  ‘ 
pla7ifc,  which,  was  required  to  support  the  superincumbent^ 
weight  of  all  the  others.  Thus  the  senses  are  deranged  by 
disease.  In  inflammatory  fevers,  especially  when  there  is 
great  electro-nervous  excitation  in  the  region  of  the  brain, 
the  shadowy  hosts  of  the  Phantom  World  gather  in  great 
numbers  about  the  sick  man.  When  health  returns, 

“They  strike  their  cloudy  tents,  and  silently 
Shrink  to  their  own  nonentity  again.’’ 

Ambition  and  fancy  build  their  airy  castles ; the  living  cre- 
ations of  Genius  are  iinvailed  in  our  presence,  and  Utopian 
visions,  born  of  the  poetic  imagination,  are  cast  up  from  the 
cerebral  camera  into  the  moral  heavens.  If  the  phantom 
throng  were  all  of  this  pleasant  description,  they  might  be 


270 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


x\ 


V 


very  comfortably  endured,  and  many  persons,  no  doubt, 
would  be  inclined  to  say  witli  Pope, 

“ Ye  soft  illusions,  dear  deceits,  arise  !” 

But,  alas,  the  hosts  of  hell  follow  in  the  train  ! Those  who 
make  a free  use  of  narcotics  and  stimulants,  sooner  or  later 
disturb  the  forces  of  the  nervous  system,  and  many  learn  at 
last  that  their  own  disordered  faculties  are  the  open  portals 
of  Pandemonium.  The  senses  of  the  opium-eater  are  often 
strangely  deranged,  and  his  faculties  sadly  impaired.  The 
poor  wretch  made  delirious  by  alcoholic  stimulants,  is  left 
to  wrestle  desperately  with  foul  demons  and  every  nameless 
monster.  Basilisks  charm  him  with  their  fatal  magnetism, 
and  fiery  serpents  coil  about  the  distracted  brain.  When 
the  delirium  subsides  and  the  fearful  tension  is  succeeded  by 
the  reaction,  the  nervous  system  resembles  an  untuned  lyre. 
The  nerves  are  morbidly  impressible  ; all  sounds  seem  to  be 
harsh,  and  all  scenes  are  repulsive  or  terrible.  The  poor 
victim  starts  at  a footfall,  or  turns  pale  at  the  rustling  of  a 
leaf.  The  gentlest  music  of  the  summer  winds  is  liollow 
and  mournful  as  the  desparing  wail  of  imprisoned  spirits. 
Where  once  he  beheld  only  graceful  forms,  warmed  with 
youthful  fire,  and  all  glowing  with  love,  now  cold,  spectral 
shapes,  appear — grim-featured  and  gliastly — to  haunt  the 
long,  deep  midnight  of  the  soul.  It  is  granted  that  these 
are  extreme  conditions  ; yet  in  delirium  tremens  and  other 
forms  of  disease,  which  follow  from  excessive  dissipation 
and  protracted  abuse  of  the  nervous  system,  tliey  frequently 
occur.  Such  cases  impressively  admonish  us  that  we  trifle 
with  our  peace,  when  we  defile  the  temple  of  the  soul.  / 


CHAPTER  XXIII, 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS. 


Nature  the  multiform  expression  of  the  Infinite  Thought — The  Psychologi- 
cal Power — Conditions  of  Impressibility — Action  of  material  agents  on 
the  Body — Influence  of  Objects  and  Ideas  on  the  Mind — Strong  Men 
often  the  most  Susceptible — The  power  of  Speech— The  Silent  Language 
— Shadows  of  Ideas— Philosophy  of  Thought-reading — Electrical  influ- 
ence of  Oratory  and  Poetry — The  mysterious  Inward  Fire — It  kindles  in 
the  eye  and  burns  on  the  lip — Summary  of  Illustrative  Facts — Appeals 
to  the  Common  Experience — Influence  of  visitors  on  Sick  Persons — Infer- 
ences from  the  Author’s  Experimental  Investigations. 


And  heart  saw  heart,  translucid  through  the  rays. 
One  same  harmonious-,  ucivers  >1  law, 

Atom  to  atom,  s*ar  to  star  can  draw 

And  miud  to  m nd  ! Swift  d irte,  as  from  the  ^uu, 

The  strong  attraction,  and  the  charm  is  done.’* 


HE  idea  that  ascribes  the  Universe  to  Infinite  Intelli- 


gence, and  recognizes  its  adaptation  to  beneficent  re- 
sults, accords  as  well  with  the  reason  of  the  Philosopher  as 
with  the  reverence  of  the  Christian,  If  we  may  not  trace 
the  chain  of  universal  relation  and  dependence,  we  may  still 
rest  assured  that  no  link  is  wanting  to  render  that  chain  com- 
plete, Everything  is  related  to  all  things,  and  all  motion, 
form,  life,  sensation  and  thought,  are  but  outward  expressions 
of  archetypes  existing  forever  in  the  Divine  consciousness.  ^ 
The  concatenation  of  intermediate  agencies  may  be  so  com- 
plex and  infinitesimal  as  to  baffle  the  most  subtile  powers 


“ So  gazo  met  gaze, 


272 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  analysis;  but  could  we  follow  the  chain  of  causation 
throughout,  we  should  doubtless  at  last  trace  all  mental  and 
physical  phenomena  to  spiritual  causes.  Moreover,  all  ma- 
terial changes  and  transformations,  from  the  simplest  pro- 
cess in  the  laboratory  up  to  the  most  stupendous  revolutions 
in  the  world  of  Matter,  are  governed  by  established  laws. 
The  invisible,  eternal  forces,  , and  their  modus  operandi  in 
Nature,  are  but  the  multifarious  expression  of  the  Infinite 
Idea.  If  all  matter  is  thus  subservient  to  the  Supreme  voli- 
tion, the  universe  of  Mind  can  not  be  left  to  lawless  disobe- 
dience ; but,  in  a certain  qualified  sense,  the  Divine  Wisdom 
must  be  more  conspicuously  revealed  in  the  realms  of  mind 
than  in  the  domain  of  matter — in  so  far  as  the  former  ex- 
hibits a nearer  approximation  to  himself.  It  can  neither  be 
vain  nor  unwise  for  the  Christian  philosopher  to  pursue  his 
investigations  in  this  department ; for  if  the  truth,  concern- 
ing the  Mind,  is  more  difficult  of  discovery  or  elucidation,  it 
certainly  cannot  be  said  to  be  less  real  in  itself  or  important 
in  its  inculcations. 

That  phase  of  Psychological  Science  which  comprehends 
the  relations  of  animal  electricity  to  the  vital  and  mental 
functions,  and  the  influence  of  mind  over  mind,  has,  within 
a few  years,  been  signalized  by  a great  number  and  variety 
of  curious  experiments.  But  men,  long  accustomed  to  doubt 
and  dispute,  who  have  always  an  objection,  but  seldom  a 
reason,  have  boldly  questioned  the  reality  of  the  phenomena. 
The  fact  that  all  persons  are  not  alike  susceptible  of  the  in- 
. fluence  of  the  same  agent,  is  presumed  to  furnish  the  ground 
of  a grave  and  difficult  objection.  Yet  nothing  is  more 
obvious  than  that  certain  conditions — either  comprehended 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS. 


273 


or  unknown — are  essential  to  success  in  every  experiment ; 
and  this  is  equally  true  in  its  application  to  all  departments 
of  scientific  investigation.  Among  the  conditions  requisite  in 
the  particular  case  under  consideration,  one  alone  will  suffice 
to  destroy  the-  influence  of  this  objection.  Electrical  phe- 
nomena are  known  to  depend,  in  all  cases,  on  the  existence  of 
positive  and  negative  states,  relations  and  forces.  Vital 
electricity,  being  the  agent  through  which  tlie  biological  or 
psychological  experimenter  acts  on  the  nerves  and  muscular 
fibers,  in  the  production  of  the  diversified  and  remarkable 
physical  and  mental  experiments,  it  follows  that  these  oppo- 
site conditions  must  meet  in  the  operator  and  the  subject,  to 
develop  any  striking  results.  When  we  reflect  that  probably 
no  two  persons  in  a thousand  will  be  found  to  sustain  pre- 
cisely the  same  relation  to  the  experimenter,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  various  degrees  of  susceptibility,  exhibited 
by  different  individuals,  can  only  be  regarded  as  natural  and 
inevitable  results,  and  as  strong  presumptive  proofs  of  the 
genuineness  of  the  phenomena; 

General-  observation  and  universal  experience  establish 
the  fact,  that  all  persons  are  not  inflaenced  in  the  same 
degree,  nor  in  a similar  manner,  by  any  one  of  the  thousand 
agents  in  the  world  of  matter  and  of  miild.  Our  frequent 
atmospheric  changes  induce  colds  or  fevers,  in  some  persons, 
while -others  escape  unharmed.  One  walks  securely  among 
the  unseen  agents  of  infection,  while  another  falls  a victim 
to  the  invisible  shafts  of  the  destroyer.  The  writer  has  been 
vaccinated  some  twenty  times,  with  as  little  effect  as  the  same 
operation  would  have  on  the  bark  Of  a tree  ; at  the  same 
time  the  agent  has  been  powerfully  operative  in  others.  Nor 


274 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


are  the  effects  wrought  by  external  agency  on  the  body  more 
multifarious  than  those  produced  by  outward  forms  and  men- 
tal faculties  on  the  mind.  An  object,  regarded  by  one  man 
with  profound  indifference,  kindles  in  the  bosom  of  another 
the  fires  of  consuming  passion  ; and  the  great  thought  that, 
in  its  conception  and  birth,  thrilled  the  soul  of  Genius  with 
its  marvelous  beauty  and  significance,  is  but  a meaningless 
mystery  with  the  world.  That  men,  corporeally  and  men- 
tally, are  so  diversely  constituted  as  to  exhibit  these  conflict- 
ing results — wlien  subjected  to  the  action  of  the  same  agent 
— is  quite  too  manifest  to  be  denied.  Neither  are  the  weak 
in  body  nor  the  imbecile  in  mind  always  the  first,  as  many 
STippose,  to  bo  affected  by  foreign  agents,  whether  material 
or  spiritual. ' The  mightiest  mind,  like  the  strong  oak,  has 
been  smitten  and  laid  low.  We  have  known  the  giant  to 
suffer  from  miasma  when  the  dwarf  escaped ; and  the  feeble- 
ness of  infancy  has  more  than  once  survived  the  action  of 
frost,  and  the  little  child  has  been  found  alive  and  nestling 
in  the  frozen  and  pulseless  bosom  of  its  mother. 

The  mental  control  over  the  vital  action,  as  exhibited  in 
the  constitution  of  man,  has  already  been  illustrated,  in  this 
treatise,  by  a citation  of  numerous  facts  and  a discussion  of 
essential  principles.  But  if  we  are  reciprocally  affected  by 
Avhatever  relates  to  the  physical  condition  of  each  other,  so 
that  health  and  disease  may  be  imbibed  or.  communicated, 
we  are  certainly  not  less  susceptible  of  inOucnces  emanating 
from  the  minds  of  those  with  whom  we  arc  in  correspond- 
ence. Nor  is  this  power  of  mind  wholly  dependent  on  the 
ordinary  and  sensible  modes  of  coniniunication.  As  the  su- 
perior faculties  arc  progressively  develo])ed,  the  grosser 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS. 


275 


vehicles  of  thought  may  be  gradually  laid  aside  ; the  pres- 
ence of  the  mind  may  be  felt  and  its  desires  made  known 
through  a more  ethereal  medium  than  the  common  speech  of 
the  world.  The  pen  may  be  mightier  far  than  sword,  and  j 
spear,  and  kingly  scepter  ; the  language  of  tlie  lips  may  ^ 
drive  the  blood  back  frozen  to  the  heart,  or  send  it  in  burn-  / 
ing  torrents  to  the  brain,  kindling  into  intense  combustion  ,• 
the  magazine  of  the  passions  ; it  may  nerve  the  stout  heart  j 
and  arm  to  deeds  of  desperate  daring  ; or,  like  an  all-pene-  ^ 
trating,  fiery  music,  fall  gently  on  the  charmed  senses,  en-  ^ 
trancing  the  soul  by  its  mysterious  power. 

But  the  human  mind  in  its  progress  employs  media  and 
methods  of  communication,  suited  to  the  several  stages  of  its 
development.  However  serviceable  these  instrumentalities 
may  be — each  in  its  appropriate  time  and  place — they  may 
be  inadequate  to  meet  the  higher  demands  of  more  enlight- 
ened periods.  We  realize  the  insufficiency  of  written 


oral  language  to  express  the  highest  thoughts  and  the  d< 
est  emotions.  There  is  another — it  ma^^  possibly  become. — 
a more  perfect  medium  of  communication.  This  language, 
though  unwritten  and  unspoken,  maybe  adequate  to  a fuller 
expression  of  all  we  feel  and  know.  It  is  not  unfrequently 
the  means — little  as  it  is  practiced  and  understood — of  re- 
vealing thoughts,  and  impulses  to  which  a vocal  utterance 
has  been  denied.  We  give  forms  to  thoughts,  and  impress 
those  forms  on  the  receptive  mind  ; we  have  power  to  hold  1 


up  the  ideal  images  we  have  created  before  the  transfigured 
spirit,  it  may  be  as  higher  natures  cast  the  shadows  of  their 
thoughts  on  the  inspired  mind,  and  write  their  higher  law^ 
in  the  willing  heart. 


276 


ItlAN  AN'D  HIS  RELATIONS. 


It  is  well  known  that  tho-se  who  are  highl}^  susceptible  of 
electro-nervous  disturbances,  may  be  influenced,  and  often 
controlled,  by  the  will  of  another  person,  even  when  there  is 
no  direct  physical  contact.  If  you  chance  to  occupy  the 
same  apartment  with  persons  of  this  description,  a vigorous 
effort  of  mind  will  enable  you  to  command  their  attention 
without  seeming  to  regard  them.  Enter  a room  where  a 
person  of  this  class  is  in  a profound  slumber — fix  your  eyes 
steadily  on  the  face  of  the  sleeper — exert  the  will  powerfully, 
and  you  will  produce  such  a disturbance  of  the  electro-ner- 
vous circulation  as  will  cause  him  to  awake.  It  not  unfre- 
quently  occurs  that  persons  are  singularly  anticipated  in 
what  they  are  about  to  say — some  other  person  giving  utter- 
ance to  the  same  thought  in  the  same  words.  Lovers,  and 
I all  persons  of  intuitive  and  impressible  natures,  especially 
when  united  by  a strong  attachment,  readily,  divine  each 
\ other’s  thoughts,  and  read — in  a silent  but  deeply  express- 
' ive  language — the  secret  conceptions  and  impulses  of  the 
l mind  and  heart. 

This  intercommunication  of  mind  with  mind,  is  carried  on 
through  an  excitation  of  the  electrical  medium  of  the  ner- 
vous system,  which  is  quite  as  readily  produced  by  mental 
forces  as  by  physical  forms.  When  tliere  is  no  corporeal 
conjunction  of  the  parties,  the  impression  is  obviously  trans- 
mitted through  the  intervening  electrical  medium  of  tlie  eartli 
and  atmosphere.  We  have  had  occasion  to  observe  that  this 
power  is  perceptible  in  the  ability  of  some  men  to  tame  wild 
beasts,  and  to  subdue  their  enemies.  It  is  strikingly  dis- 
played in  the  electrical  excitement  that  runs  tlirougli  and 
pervades  a vast  multitude,  when  some  inspired  orator  moves 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS.  277 

— as  by  a single  impulse — the  hearts  of  thousands.  We 
have  felt  its  thrilling  power — 

•*  la  the  song  of  the  poet,  when  love’s  bright  spells 
O’er  the  strings  of  his  wild  harp  sweep 

in  the  responsive  utterances  of  kindred  spirits,  and  the  sweet 
cadence  of  commingling  voices  in  the  vespers.  It  is  felt 
when  we  press  the  warm  hand,  and  heart  answers  to  heart 
in  the  rapid  measure  of  intense  delight.  We  are  sensible 
of  the  mysterious  power  when  the  electric  fires  of  congenial 
souls  kindle  in  the  eye  and  burn  on  the  parted  lips  of  Genius 
and  Love  ; and  ever  do  we  yield  to  the  intangible  and  irre- 
sistible presence,  as  impulses  wild,  joyous,  or  terrible,  come 
leaping  up  from  the  unfathomable  depths  of  Being./ 

About  fifteen  years  since  I commenced  an  experimental 
investigation  of  this  subject,  which  has  been  continued  as 
opportunity  has  offered  until  the  present  time.  The  course 
of  experiment  has  been  greatly  diversified,  and  the  results 
have  been  carefully  observed.  Curious  and  startling  phe- 
nomena have  met  me  at  every  step  in  my  progress,  and  these 
all  furnish  instructive'  and  impressive  illustrations  of  the 
amazing  power  of  mind  over  the  functions  and  the  faculties 
of  animals  and  men.  The  facts  are  deeply  suggestive,  and 
the  whole  subject  opens  an  immeasurable  field  for  scien- 
tific research.  I have  met  with  many  persons  to  whom  I 
could  readily,  yet  silently,  communicate  the  inmost  secrets  of 
the  mind.  When  in  immediate  rapport  with  such  persons,  it 
is  never  difficult  to  direct  the  whole  current  of  thought  and 
feeling.  In  this  way  a constant  succession  of  images  may  be 
rendered  distinctly  visible,  while  they  have  merely  an  ideal 
existence  in  the  controlling  mind.  These  effects,  and  a vari- 


278 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


et_y  of  sensorial  impressions— not  demanding  a precise  speci- 
fication in  this  connection — are  manifestly  produced  agree- 
ably to  the  same  general  principles  which  govern  ordinary 
sensation.  Thus  thoughts  and  feelings,  corresponding  to 
our  own,  are — by  a mental-electric  process — awakened  or 
inspired  in  the  passive  mind.  Indeed,  the  greatest  electro- 
nervous  excitements  result  from  the  emotional  and  executive 
powers  of  the  soul.  This  electrical  excitation  is  communi- 
cated to  and  through  the  sensor  nerves  of  the  subject,  and 
corresponding  cerebral  impressions  are  produced.  These 
electrical  disturbances  at  the  sensorium  occasion  all  the  di- 
versified phenomena  of  sensation,  and  their  interpretation 
by  the  soul  constitutes  thought. 

The  casual  illustrations  of  this  power  of  the  mind  have 
been  numerous,  and  they  should  be  convincing.  Ideas  are 
often  transmitted  by  mental-electrical  currents  to  kindred 
minds  in  the  same  assembly.  By  some  invisible  means  we 
are  frequently  reminded  of  absent  persons, .and  made  to  feel 
I and  believe  that  they  are  approaching  some  time  before  tlie 
■ fact  is  cognizable  by  the  senses.  Many  persons  experience  a 
slight  spastic  action  of  the  nerves  whenever  they  converse 
with  one  who  expresses  his  thoughts  witli  uncommon  ear- 
nestness. We  have  experienced  something  resembling  the 
chills  and  fever  while  witnessing  a masterly  dramatic  per- 
formance, and  a powerful  speaker  may  even  raise  the  hearer 
from  his  seat,  by  the  mysterious  force  that  elevates  the  mind 
to  the  liighest  heaven  of  imagination.  Some  people  are  con- 
scious of  a soporific  inlluence,  when  within  the  splicres  or 
magnetic  emanations  of  certain  individuals,  while  other 
persons  banish  sleep  from  our  presence  This  susceptibility 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  HALLUCINATIONS. 


279 


is  often  greatly  inereased  by  disease.  Tliere  are  friends 
who  come  to  the  sick  room,  whose  presence  is  an  anodyne  ; 
others  greatly  aggravate  the  nervous  irritability  and  wake- 
fulness of  the  patient.  Sleep  is  often  driven  from  the  couch 
of  pain  by  the  anxiety  and  restlessness  of  sympathising 
friends,  whose  minds  are  fixed  on  the  sufferer.  Thus  the 
mind,  acting  througli  the  subtile  medium  of  vital  motion  and 
sensation,  produces  both  physiological  and  psychological 
effects.  The  sensorial  impressions — made  by  the  tangible 
objects  of  the  terrestrial  world — are  certainly  not  more 
intense  and  lasting  than  the  electrical  excitation  and  mental 
emotions  produced  by  thoughts  when  they  are  armed  with 
the  power  of  volition. 

The  instances  wherein  we  are  singularly  anticipated  in 
what  we  are  about  to  say,  numerous  as  they  are,  might  be 
presumed  to  depend  on  an  association  of  ideas  ; or  they 
misrlit  be  ascribed  to  a similarity  in  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  general  habits  of  thought  peculiar  to  the  indi- 
viduals, did  they  not  often  occur  under  such  circumstances 
as  must  preclude  the  adoption  of  either  of  these  hypotheses. 
The  thought  conceived  and  simultaneously  expressed  very 
often  sustains  no  relation,  however  remote,  to  any  subject  of 
previous  remark.  Nor  are  we  able  to  discern,  always  or 
generally,  any  marked  resemblance  of  the  parties  to  each 
other  ; either  in  their  cerebral  conformation  or  other  physical 
and  mental  peculiarities.  Nevertheless,  the  facts  are  matters 
of  common  observation  and  experience,  and  the  philosophic 
mind  is  disposed  to  seek  for  some  law  to  which  such  mental 
phenomena  may  be  referri^. 

A fact  that  is  perpetually  recurring,  proves  the  existence 


280 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  some  active  principle  and  regulating  law,  of  which  such 
fact  or  phenomenon  is  the  appropriate  and  natural  expres- 
sion. In  the  course  of  my  investigations  it  has  been  clearly 
demonstrated — by  experiments  on  a great  number  of  persons 
— that  the  mind  exerts  a direct  power  over  the  subtile  me- 
dium of  vital  motion  and  sensation,  and  hence  that  it  may 
influence  both  the  voluntary  and  involuntary  functions  of 
animals  and  men.  It  is  further  manifest  from  these  ex- 
periments that  the  earth  and  atmosphere,  or  more  properly 
their  imponderables,  may  serve  to  establish  this  connection, 
and  thus  to  open  the  intercommunication  of  mind  with  mind. 
This  observation  is  confirmed  by  every  experiment  wherein 
one  person  is  controlled  or  influenced — when  at  a distance 
— by  the  unexpressed  will  or  thought  of  another.*  The  elec- 
tro-physiological and  psychological  changes,  produced  by 
mental  action,  are  facts  as  real  and  indisputable  as  any 
within  the  whole  domain  of  physical  science.  The  vital  aura 
is  so  highly  sublimated  that  it  is  readily  disturbed  by  the 
slightest  causes,  producing  nervous  vibrations  and  cerebral 
impressions.  Its  ebb  and  flow  mark  the  occurrence  of  every 
emotion — the  gentle  no  less  than  the  terrible — while  in  the 
flaming  intensity  of  passion,  as  well  as  in  the  mysterious 
and  delicate  enginery  of  thought,  we  have  the  stirring  reve- 
lations of  its  presence  and  its  power. 

* The  mind  that  acts  with  the  greatest  vigor  and  method,  will  be  the  most 
likely  to  excite  distinct  emotions  and  clearly  defined  ideas  by  this  psycbo- 
electric  process  ; at  the  same  time,  it  will  be  equally  obvious  that  the  ab* 
sence  of  the  executive  power  of  the  mind— or  the  temporary  suspension  of 
its  functions — will  greatly  increase  the  susceptibility  of  the  subject  to  im- 
pressions by  the  Mental  Telegraph. 


CHAPTER  im. 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 

Casual  Phenomena — The  Author’s  private  Experiments — Vulgar  and  avari- 
cious Pretenders — Human  nature  brutalized — Musical  Experiments  with 
Miss  Wilder — Miss  Buckeley  and  the  Floral  Exhibition — Spell  of  the 
Magnetic  Water — The  Revolver  Test — Exquisite  susceptibility  of  Mrs. 
Rice — A verbatim  dispatch  over  the  Mental  Telegraph — Curious  illustra- 
tions at  a Social  Party — Convincing  proofs  by  a strange  Lady — A Young 
Man  sent  for — He  answers  the  Mental  Telegram  in  ten  minutes — Tele- 
graphing from  New  Canaan  to  Norwalk — Mrs,  Gardner  is  summoned  by 
the  silent  Courier — A Message  sent  eighteen  iniles,  to  Grace  Goodyear — 
The  Lady  receives  it  while  she  is  asleep— A Dream  inspired  at  a distance 
of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Miles ! — Objections  Answered. 

And  thoughts,  /ike  sun-fires  penetrate  the  world, 

And  go  whe'-e  they  are  sent : thus  mind  meets  mind 
Though  mountains  rise  and  oceans  roll  between. 


The  results  of  individual  experience  constitute  the  accu- 
mulated wisdom  of  the  world.  It  is  cheerfully  conceded 
that  the  experience  of  other  persons  may  he  fraught  with  a 
deeper  interest  than  our  own  ; but  those  who  restrict  them- 
selves to  the  repetition  of  what  others  may  have  felt,  and 
thought,  and  spoken,  add  little  or  nothing  to  the  common 
stock  of  ideas.  The  man  who  has  a serious  purpose  will 
find  more  useful  and  honorable  employment.  Moreover,  to 
seek  a name  in  this  way  is  to  rob  the  dead  of  their  immor- 


282 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


tality.  It  were  far  more  commendable  to  die  and  leave  no 
memorial,  than  to  tax  the  nerves  and  employ  the  brains  of 
other  men  to  build  a monument. 

Long  before  undertaking  the  labor  of  a systematic  inquiry 
into  the  philosophy  of  the  vital  functions  and  the  laws  of 
mind,  I had  witnessed  and  performed  some  experiments,  at- 
tended with  results  so  remarkable  as  to  render  them  worthy 
of  being  preserved  among  the  more  interesting  incidents  of 
my  private  experience.  I liave  not  heretofore  omitted  to 
record  other  facts,  occurring  without  the  range  of  personal 
observation,  whenever  they  afforded  the  most  suitable  illus- 
trations of  my  subject ; nor  do  I deem  it  necessary  to  offer 
an  apology  for  presenting  the  experimental  results  of  my 
own  investigations  as  often  as  these  will  best  serve  my  pur- 
pose. From  an  observation  of  facts  incidentally  occurring, 
I was  prompted  to  a succession  of  voluntary  efforts,  which 
were  signalized  by  still  more  remarkable  results.  In  numer- 
ous instances  I tried  the  experiment  of  thinking  intensely  of 
some  person,  present  or  absent,  with  a view  to  ascertain 
whether  the  mind  of  that  person  would  not  revert  to  me  at 
the  same  time.  This  experiment,  though  many  times  re- 
peated, with  different  subjects — frequently  with  persons  at  a 
distance— was  eminently  successful.  The  individuals  select- 
ed were  usually,  though  not  always,  personal  friends  and 
familiar  acquaintances  of  the  writer  ; but  the  success  of  the 
experiments  did  not  appear  to  depend  at  all  on  the  previous 
intimacy  of  the  parties. 

The  curious  facts  in  this  department,  whether  compre- 
hended under  the  several  heads  of  “ Magnetism,’’  “ Mesmer- 
ism,” “ Pathetism,”  “ Electro -Psychology,”  “ Biology,”  or 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 


283 


nny  otlior  term — properly  or  improperly  derived  and  applied 
— are  all  illustrations  (^rlien  they  are  real)  of  the  same  es- 
sentiarprinciples  and  laws.  Moreover,  the  men  who,  sever- 
ally, either  claim  to  have  made  an  original  discovery,  or  to 
have  founded  a distinct  branch  of  science,  are  generally 
mere  'pretenders,  who  at  most  have  only  varied  the  forms  of 
experiment  or,  perhaps,  coined  a new  and  less  appropriate 
name  for  the  same  thing.  Many  of  the  professed  expound- 
ers of  the  psychological  hallucinations,  and  other  similar 
phenomena,  have  illustrated  nothing  more  clearly  than  their 
own  ignorance  of  the  philosophy  of  the  whole  subject  ; while 
their  public  experiments  have^for  the  most  part,  been  of  so 
gross  and  repulsive  a character  as  to  justly  offend  the  good 
taste  and  the  moral  sense  of  the  intelligent  and  refined  spec- 
tator. More  than  one  poor  catch-penny,  prompted  alike  by 
coarseness  and  avarice  to  pander  to  a vitiated  and  vulgar, 
taste,  has  compelled  an  intelligent  human  being  to  walk  on 
all-fours,  to  bark  like  a dog,  or  to  bray  like  a donkey  ! The 
writer  once  witnessed  such  a performance,  with  a feeling  of 
almost  irrepressible  indignation,  that  a Man  should  be  thus 
degraded — even  in  imagination,  for  a moment — to  the  level 
of  four-footed  beasts.  No  man  who  has  not  already  unfortu-'\ 
nately  defiled  his  own  garments  by  a groveling  and  beastly/ 
life,  and  thus  disfigured  or  obscured  the  image  of  God  in  his\ 
own  soul,  would  so  prostitute  his  mental  powers  and  debase^ 
the  common  humanity. 

Those  who  utterly  disregard  the  claims  of  science  and 
willingly  brutalize  their  own  species,  are  seldom  capable  of 
giving  any  iiltelligible  idea  of  the  subject  on  which  they 
jirofess  to  discourse.  They  are  usually  very  positive  in  their 

18 


284 


JIAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


assumptions,  and  extremely  negative  in  their  proofs.  The 
public  experiments  of  such  professed  interpreters  of  the  psy- 
chological mysteries,  are  djpsigned  to  amuse  rather  than  to 
instruct,  and  the  pretended  results  are  often  transparent 
frauds.  The  operators  of  this  class  are  accustomed  to  tell 
the  subject,  in  a most  emphatic  manner,  precisely  what  they 
expect  him  to  see,  hear,  feel,  taste,- smell  or  do,  so  that  there 
is  every  opportunity  for  collusion,  and — if  the  subject  has 
fine  imitative  powers — he  may  deceive  the  uninitiated  spec- 
tator. A biological  “ doctor,’’  whom  the  writer  once  met  at 
Louisville,  Ky. — a rough  Stone  in  the  temple  of  humanity — 
assured  his  audiences  that  the  experiments  did  not  require 
the  exercise  of  the  ivill ; also  that  mind  (meaning  the  mind 
of  the  operator)  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  results  ; (others 
thought  so  in  his  particular  case)  but  that  all  tlie  effects  on 
the  body  and  mind  of  the  subject,  were  to  be  accounted  for 
“ on  the  doctrine  of  impressionsJ’  This  unmeaning  assertion 
— repeated  often  and  with  peculiar  emphasis — the  Doctor 
appeared  to  regard  as  a most  lucid  exposition  of  the  whole 
subject ; and,  accordingly,  he  traveled  from  place  to  place 
- -by  land  and  sea — 

‘‘  Explaining  bis  mysteries  to  tbe  nations. 

But  never  explaining  his  explanations.” 

The  experimental  illustrations  wiiich  follow  in  tliis  con- 
nection are  of  a widely  different  cfiaracter  ; at  tlie  same 
time  tliey  demonstrate  tlie  fact  of  a silent  intercourse  of 
mind  wdth  mind  through  the  subtile  medium  of  sensation. 
They  leave  no  room  to  doubt  that  passions,  sentiments  and 
thoughts -not  less  than  external  forms  and  pliysical  phe- 
nomena— serve  to  disturb  tlie  electric  aura  of  the  nervous 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 


285 


system,  through  which  their  images  are  conveyed  to  the  cor- 
poreal seat  of  sensation,  and  thence  reflected  to  the  inner 
consciousness  of  the  spirit.  I now  propose  to  illustrate  the 
nature  and  results  of  my  experiments  by  the  introduction  of 
particular  examples. 

Miss  Wilder,  of  Leominster,  Mass.,  possessed  a melodious 
voice,  and  no  little  skill  in  musical  execution.  She  was  so 
extremely  impressible  that  any  piece  of  music,  of  whicli  one 
might  chance  to  be  thinking  in  her  presence,  could  be  com- 
municated to  her  by  the  slightest  touch.  When,  occasion- 
ally, the  impression  was  indefinite,  she  would  seem  to  be 
listening  for  an  instant,  and  then — starting  as  though  she 
had  heard  a voice — would  exclaim,  “ Yes,  I hear  ! I have 
it !”  and  immediately  commence  singing,  at  the  same  time 
furnishing  her  own  accompaniment  on  the  guitar.  Mr. 
Davis,  an  amateur  violinist,  and  several  others,  repeated  the 
experiment,  at  my  suggestion,  with  similar  success.  This 
lady  was,  on  numerous  occasions,  the  subject  of  many  curi- 
ous experiments,  in  which  the  electro-mental  susceptibility 
displayed  was  extremely  beautiful  in  its  nature,  and  truly 
wonderful  in  its  results. 

Some  time  since,  while  the  writer  was  in  Louisville,  Ky., 
a number  of  experiments  were  made  with  Miss  Bulkeley,  an 
interesting  young  lady  who  displayed  remarkable  readiness 
in  receiving  communications  by  the  mental  telegraph.  The 
subject  was  eminently  free  from  any  tendency  to  disease,  and 
the  experimental  results,  in  her  case,  were  such  as  to  excite 
tlie  admii’ation  of  many  intelligent  ladies  and  gentlemen. 
Being  in  electro-mental  rapport  with  Miss  B.,  the  writer  re- 
ceived— from  strangers  and  disint  'i  c.- ted  persons— cards  and 


286 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


slips  of  paper  to  the  number  of  twelve  or  fifteen,  on  each  of 
which  the  name  of  some  flower  had  been  previously  written. 
The  collection  embraced  the  violet,  pink,  rose,  dahlia,  sun- 
flower, tulip,  honeysuckle,  snowball,  water-lily,  and  others  of 
which  our  recollection  is  imperfect.  Taking  these  severally 
in  my  hand,  I formed  an  ideal  image  of  the  particular  flower 
designated  on  each  separate  card  or  slip  of  paper,  and  the 
images  were  successively  conveyed  by  this  silent,  psycho- 
logical process  to  the  mind  of  the  young  lady,  who — with 
scarcely  a moment’s  delay  in  any  instance — pronounced  the 
names  of  the  flowers,  each  in  its  proper  place,  as  the  card 
bearing  the  corresponding  name  was  taken  up.  All  the 
flowers  nam.ed  above  were  thus  designated  except  the  snow- 
ball, which,  though  not  named,  was  otherwise  described  as 
a large  white  jioioer. 

A middle-aged  Lady,  residing  in  Louisville,  whose  nervous 
system  was  so  morbidly  impressible  that  slie  would  start 
with  a violent,  involuntary  motion,  whenever  the  door  of 
her  room  was  opened  or  closed  suddenly,  was  also  a highly 
susceptible  subject.  In  her  case,  the  external  avenues  of 
sensation  could  be  opened  and  closed  at  pleasure.  In  pres- 
ence of  a large  audience  she  distinguished  sugar,  salt,  pep- 
per, vinegar,  and  other  articles,  the  instant  I tasted  of  each, 
notwithstanding  I was  ten  feet  from  her  at  the  time,  and  siie 
had  not  the  sliglitest  reason  to  presume  that  any  one  of  the 
articles  named  was  in  the  room,  or  could  be  conveniently 
obtained  under  the  circumstances.  With  a glass  of  magnetic 
water,  and  a few  manipulations,  accompanied  by  the  action 
of  the  will,  I completely  suspended  sensation  in  five  minutes 
or  less.  With  a view  of  trying  tlic  sense  of  liearing  by  a 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 


287 


severe  and  demonstrative  test,  a Kentuckian  furnished  me 
with  a heavily  loaded  revolver,  throe  barrels  of  which  I in- 
stantly discharged  over  the  back  of  the  Lady’s  head,  with- 
out causing  the  slightest  motion  of  a single  muscle. 

Mrs.'  Rice,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  was  distinguished  for  a , 
most  delicate  susceptibility  of  mental  impressions.  Having 
been  invited  to  visit  her  one  afternoon — at  her  residence,  j 
and  in  company  with  several  friends — I seated  myself  at  her 
side,  at  the  same  time  requesting  her  to  take  an  excursion,  j 
and  to  describe  whatever  she  might  observe  by  the  way. 
Without  giving  the  slightest  intimation  respecting  the  di- 
rection we  were  to  travel,  I proceeded  on  an  ideal  journey,  ( 
by  railroad  and  steamboat,  to  New  York.  Madam  Rice 
described  with  singular  fidelity  all  the  important  objects  on  ^ 
the  route  of  which  the  writer  could  form  a distinct  concep- 
tion— spoke  of  persons  whom  she  met  by  the  way,  and  re-  . 
peated  the  very  words  they  were  by  me  supposed  to  utter. 
On  the  same  occasion,  I imaguied  a letter  to  be  placed  be- 
fore her,  when  she  suddenly  exclaimed,  “ Here  is  a letter 

from  Mr. mentioning  the  name  of  an  absent  friend  of 

whom  I was  thinking  at  that  moment ; and  going  through 
with  the  appropriate  motions,  as  if  she  were  really  breaking 
a seal  and  unfolding  the  sheet,  she  commenced  and  read  ver- 
batim, from  my  mind,  for  several  minutes.  These  were  the 
first  and  only  experiments  made  with  Mrs.  Rice. 

I once  attended  a social  party  given  by  M rs.  Kirkpatrick, 
at  her  residence  in  Albany.  In  the  company  was  a lady 
(Mrs.  Mills)  whom  I had  been  led  to  infer  might  be  highly 
susceptible  of  electro- nervous  impressions,  though  I had 
never  confirmed  my  opinion  by  a single  experiment.  Taking 


288 


MAN  AND  HIS  KELATIONS. 


a seat  by  a gentleman  who  was  known  to  be  extremely  skep- 
tical, I observed  that  it  might  be  possible  to  dem'onstrate  the 
existence  of  a mental  power  he  was  disposed  to  deny  ; that, 
although  I had  never  conversed  with  Mrs.  M.  on  the  subject, 
nor  made  the  slightest  effort  to  subject  her  to  psychological 
impressions,  I had  little  hesitation  in  saying,  that  the  volun- 
tary functions  of  mind  and  body  might  be  controlled — with- 
out physical  contact — by  the  unaided  power  of  volition.  - 

This  gentleman  having  expressed  a desire  to  witness  the  ’ 

experiment,  it  was  agreed  that  I should  cause  the  lady  to  ^ 

leave  her  place  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  and  occupy 
a vacant  chair  by  his  side.  In  less  than  one  minute  she  | 

obeyed  the  silent  action  of  my  will  and  seated  herself  in  the  | 

unoccupied  chair.  In  like  manner  she  was  impelled  to  !,■ 

change  her  position  several  times,  and  finally  to  leave  the  i 

room  temporarily,  with  no  specific  object  in  view,  and  with-  ^ 

out  so  much  as  suspecting  the  origin  of  an  impulse  she  was  I 

quite  unable  to  resist.  | 

( The  tea-table  was  the  scene  of  an  interesting  experiment. 

/ Mrs.  Mills  was  in  the  act  of  removing  from  the  board — I 

having  finished  her  repast— when  several  dishes  were  handed 
to  her,  all  of  which  were  refused.  Mrs.  Kirkpatrick  urged 
Mrs.  M.  to  accept  another  dish  of  tea,  wliich  the  latter  posi- 
tively declined.  Without  uttering  a word,  I succeeded  in 
- changing  her  inclination,  and,  obedient  to  my  volition,  she 
immediately  drew  her  chair  again  to  the  table,  and  called 
for  a dish  of  tea.  On  my  passing  the  several  dislies  she  had 
just  refused,  Mrs.  Mills  freely  partook  of  each,  as  if  it  were 
for  the  first  time. 

At  an  early  hour  she  proposed  to  go  home  ; but  my  friend 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHINCr. 


289 


who  had  given  the  entertainment,  apprehensive  that  others 
might  follow  the  example,  and  thus  the  company  be  broken 
up,  desired  me  to  restrain  her.  Mrs.  Mills  instantly  obeyed 
the  executive  action  of  the  mind,  observing  that  the  attrac- 
tions the  occasion  presented  were  so  numerous,  and  withal 
so  powerful,  that  she  could  not  break  away.  In  this  manner 
her  desire  to  go  home  was  neutralized,  and  Mrs.  M.  remained 
until  the  company  separated. 

f Several  years  ago,  while  spending  an  afternoon  with  sev- 
eral ladies  and  gentlemen — mostly  strangers  to  the  writer — 
some  illustrations  of  mental  telegraping  were  called  for  by 
the  company.  Among  the  persons  present,  two  or  three 

were  more  or  less  influenced.  But  Miss.  A , a lady  of 

intelligence  and  refinement,  with  whom  the  writer  had  had 
no  previous  acquaintance,  was  discovered  to  yield  with  great 
readiness  and  astonishing  precision  to  the  action  of  the  will. 
Though  at  the  time  perfectly  awake — and  until  then  totally 
unconscious  of  possessing  any  such  susceptibility — this  lady 
bestowed  several  rings  and  other  valuables  on  different 
members  of  the  party,  following  in  every  instance,  and  in 
a most  unerring  manner,  the  writer^s  volition.  Without 
affording  the  slightest  opportunity  for  the  fair  subject  to 
learn,  by  any  external  indications,  the  nature  of  the  requests 
made,  a number  of  difficult  trials  were  suggested  by  persons 
composing  the  company.  Several  of  these  experiments — 
attended  with  the  most  satisfactory  results — may  be  thus 
briefly  mentioned  : Miss.  A.  promptly  obeyed  the  silent  man- 
date of  my  mind,  and  going  to  the  center-table,  selected  a 
•particular  book,  that  had  been  singled  out  from  among  a 
number  of  others  equally  conspicuous.  Some  one  required 


290 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


that  she  miglit  be  incited  to  take  up  another  book,  of  five 
hundred  pages,  and  turn  to  a short  poem — somewhere  about 
the  middle  of  the  volume — which  was  accordingly  done  with- 
out the  least  hesitation.  Again,  by  a similar  effort,  this  lady 
was  influenced  to  make  choice  of  a particular  engraving, 
from  amongst  a number  contained  in  an  annual.  While 
looking  at  my  watch,  she  announced  the  time  within  a few 
seconds.  On  a subsequent  occasion,  similar  efforts  were 
made  to  impress  the  mind  of  this  person,  but  from  some 
defect  in  the  requisite  conditions,  the  results  were  certainly 
not  satisfactory. y 

/When  the  mental  and  moral  gravitation  has  been  mutual 
I have  been  scarcely  less  successful  in  my  experiments  on 
persons  at  a distance.  On  one  occasion,  while  spending  a 
few  days  at  Waterbury,  Conn.,  I found  it  necessary  to  see  a 
young  man  in  the  village.  The  immediate  presence  of  the 
youth  was  of  considerable  importance  to  me,  but  not  know- 
ing his  residence,  place  of  business,  or  oven  his  name,  I could 
not  send  for  him.  In  this  emergency,  1 undertook  to  tele- 
graph him,  by  concentrating  my  mind  on  the  young  man,  with 
a fixed  determination  to  bring  him  to  me.  Some  ton  minutes 
had  elapsed  when  he  came  to  the  house  and  inquired  for  the 
writer.  Meeting  a gentleman  at  the  door,  lie  asked,  with 
much  apparent  interest,  wliether  1 wanted  to  see  him.  On 
being  interrogated  by  this  individual,  he  stated  that  a few 
moments  before,  and  while  actively  engaged  in  his  workshop 
— distant  one  fourth  of  a mile — he  suddenly  felt  that  he  must 
seek  my  presence  without  delay,  lie  declared  that  ho  was 
conscious  of  the  existence  and  iidluenco  of  some  strange 
power,  acting  chiefly  on  the  anterior  [)ortion  of  his  brain, 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 


291 


and  drawing  liiin  with  irresistible  energy.  His  work  being 
urgent,  he  resolved  at  lirst  to  resist  this  unaccountable  incli- 
nation, but  after  a determined  effort,  found  himself  unequal 
to  the  task.  1 

While  employed  in  lecturing  at  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  sev- 
eral years  since,  I chanced  one  night  to  be  thinking  ear- 
nestly of  a young  man  who  was  living  in  the  adjoining  town 
of  Norwalk — at  a distance  of  several  miles — and  who  had 
been  the  subject  of  some  experiments  on  a previous  occasion. 
This  youth  happened  at  that  precise  time,  as  I subsequently 
learned,  to  be  in  company  with  several  gentlemen  who  were 
subjecting  him  to  some  similar  experiments,  when  all  at  once 
— and  in  a manner  most  unaccountable  to  all  present — he 
escaped  from  their  influence,  declaring,  with  great  earnest- 
ness, that  Mr.  Brittan  wanted  to  see  him,  and  that  he  must 
go  immediately. 

The  wife  of  Rev.  C.  H.  Gardner  proved  to  be  an  excel- 
lent telegraphic  instrument.  I had  personally  subjected  the 
lady  to  a single  experiment,  resulting  in  the  cure  of  a dis- 
tressing asthma,  from  which  she  had  suflerecl  intensely  and 
for  a long  time.  I had  not  spoken  with  this  person  for  three 
months,  when  one  day  her  arrival,  in  company  with  her 
husband,  was  unexpectedly  announced.  After  a brief  inter- 
view, which  did  not  occupy  more  than  five  minutes,  I with- 
drew and  retired  to  my  study  to  complete  the  task  I had  left 
unfinished,  leaving  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  with  my  family  and  sev- 
eral other  persons.  Not  the  slightest  allusion  had  been  made 
to  any  further  experiments,  and  certainly  none  were  then 
premeditated. 

Several  liours  elapsed — 1 know  not  how  long — when  the 


292 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


silence  of  my  apartment  was  broken  by  sounds  of  mirth 
proceeding  from  the  company  below.  They  were  engaged  in 
some  amusement  which  excited  a spirited  conversation  and 
immoderate  laughter.  The  voice  of  Mrs.  Gardner  was  dis- 
tinctly heard.  At  that  moment  the  idea  of  taking  her 
from  the  company  occurred  to  me.  But  the  occasion  seemed 
to  be  in  all  respects  unfavorable.  She  had  no  intimation  that 
any  such  effort  would  be  made  ; she  was  in  a remote  part  of 
the  house,  and  we  were  separated  by  a long  flight  of  stairs 
and  two  partitions.  Moreover,  surrounded  by  others,  and 
excited  by  outward  circumstances,  the  soul  is  not  in  the  most 
suitable  state  to  be  successfully  approached  and  strongly 
influenced  through  the  subtile,  invisible  media  employed  by 
the  mind.  Nevertheless,  I resolved  to  make  the  experiment. 
Closing  my  eyes  to  shut  out  all  external  objects,  I fixed  my 
mind  on  Mrs.  G.,  with  a determination  to  bring  her  to  the 
library.  Doubtless  the  mental  effort,  in  that  instance,  would 
have  been  quite  sufficient — had  it  been  applied  tlirougli  the 
muscles — to  overcome  the  physical  resistance  of  an  object 
equal  to  the  weight  of  the  lady’s  person.  1 was,  however, 
not  a little  astonished  on  witnessing  the  result  of  this  expe- 
riment. In  about  two  minutes  the  door  opened  and  Mrs. 
Gardner  entered  with  her  eyes  closed,  when  the  following 
conversation  ensued  : 

“ You  appeared  to  be  very  happy  with  the  Iriends  below.” 
I observed,  inquiringly. 

“ I was.” 

Why,  then,  did  you  leave  the  company  V” 

“ I don’t  know.” 

‘ Why,  or  for  what  purpose,  did  you  come  liere  ?” 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING. 


293 


“ I thought  you  wanted  me,  and  I could  not  help  obeying 
the  summons.”. 

While  on  a visit  at  Newtown,  Conn.,  some  seven  or  eight 
years  since,  I became  acquainted  with  Miss  Grace  Goodyear, 
wliosc  extreme  impressibility  was  evident  from  her  read- 
iness to  divine  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  those  around 
her.  In  the  course  of  our  interview,  an  experiment  was 
suggested  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  her  exqui- 
site susceptibility  would  admit  of  her  receiving  telegraphic 
communications  from  a distance.  It  was  mutually  agreed 
that  on  the  succeeding  Tuesday  evening,  at  ten  'o’clock,  she 
should  retire  to  her  private  apartment,  and  write  her 
thoughts  for  half  an  hour,  during  which  time  I was  to  tele- 
graph her,  if  possible,  from  my  house  in  Bridgeport,  the  dis- 
tance being  about  an  hour’s  ride  by  railway.  The  time  set 
apart  for  the  trial  found  me  occupied  with  a subject  of  such 
absorbing  interest,  that  the  hour  actually  passed  before  I sus- 
pected it  had  arrived.  It  was  precisely  thirty  minutes  after 
ten,  when  I was  suddenly  reminded  of  my  engagement,  but 
it  was  then  too  late  to  make  the  proposed  trial.  Under  these 
circumstances  I resolved  to  make  an  experiment  that,  if  suc- 
cessful, would  be  still  more  convincing,  because  unpremedi- 
tated. Accordingly,  I waited  until  eleven  o’clock  and  thirty 
minutes,  when  presuming  that  she  must  be  asleep,  I occupied 
the  remaining  half  hour  before  midnight  in  an  effort  to  pro- 
ject certain  images  before  the  mind,  at  a distance  of  eighteen 
miles ! The  ideal  picture  represented  a sylvan  scene,  enli- 
vened by  clear  flowing  waters,  and  a variety  of  such  natural 
objects  as  are  necessary  to  complete  an  enchanting  land- 
scape ; while  beneath  the  inviting  shade — on  the  flowery 


294 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


inargiL  of  the  stream — I placed  the  subject  of  the  experi- 
ment, and  a tall,  graceful  youth  with  a guitar,  whose  music 
fixed  attention  and  entranced  the  soul. 

Several  days  after,  I received  a letter  containing,  in  sub- 
stance, the  following  ; — You  either  did  not  make  the  ex- 
periment at  the  time,  and  in  the  manner  proposed,  or  else 
did  not  succeed,  as  I received  no  impression,  during  the  half 
hour,  that  could  be  traced  to  any  foreign  source.  But  after 
retiring  for  the  night,  and  falling  into  a natural  slumber,  a 
beautiful  dream-like  vision  passed  before  me.’’  Subsequently, 
at  my  request,  she  related  the  dream — her  narrative  com- 
mencing thus  : — “ I was  standing  by  a clear  stream , whose 
banks  were  covered  with  beautiful  groves and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  recital  indicated  a striking  resemblance  of 
the  dream  to  the  images  formed  in  the  mind  of  the  writer. 
Requesting  the  lady  to  denote,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the 
hour  of  her  singular- experience,  she  stated  that  she  retired 
at  eleven  o’clock,  and,  on  awaking  from  the  dream,  found 
the  precise  time  to  be  ten  minutes  'past  tivelve,  which  deter- 
mines the  hour  with  sufficient  exactness  to  warrant  the  con- 
clusion that  there  may  have  been,  and  doubtless  was,  actual 
commerce  of  thought  and  feeling,  carried  on  through  the 
intervening  distance  between  Newtown  and  Bridgeport. 

From  among  the  numerous  examples  of  this  power,  I sliall 
record  but  one  more  in  this  connection.  In  the  montli  of 
September,  1847,  I was  one  night  on  my  way  from  Now 
York  city  to  New  London,  Conn.  In  its  solemn  silence  and 
spiritual  beauty,  the  night  was  more  enchanting  tlian  the 
day.  The  elements  were  in  a state  of  profound  repose,  and 
the  full  moon  poured  a flood  of  silvery  liglit  far  over  the 


I 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPHING.  295 

distant  land  -and  the  surrounding’  waters.  Long  Island 
Sound  seemed  like  a sea  of  glass,  in  which  tlie  gods  might 
see  their  faces,  and  wherein  the  sublime  and  glorious  heavens 
were  faithfully  mirrored.  It  was  a time  for  meditation  and 
deep  communion  of  soul,  when  the  presence  of  the  absent  is 
felt,  and  the  portals  of  the  Spirit-home  are  open  to  man. 
Gazing  away  into  the  infinite  inane,  it  seemed  that  the  unre- 
vealed  glory  of  the  Invisible  was  only  concealed  from  mortal 
eyes  by  thin  nebulous  curtains,  let  down  by  Angel-hands 
over  the  windows  of  heaven.  Looking  away  over  tlie  peace- 
ful waters,  and  up  through  the  luminous  atmosphere,  I 
fancied  that  the  spirit,  like  light,  might  travel  afar  over 
mountain  and  plain  to  the  objects  for  which  it  has  affinity. 
And  why  not?  the  spirit  within  involuntarily  demanded. 
Surely  the  spirit — the  man — the  immortal — is  as  subtile  as 
light.  In  the  order  of  Nature,  the  soul  exceeds,  in  the  degree 
of  its  refinement,  all  that  is  subject  to  sensuous  observation. 
Mind  is  far  more  ethereal  than  electricity  ; thought  may, 
therefore,  travel  with  more  than  electric  speed.  With  no 
battery  but  the  brain,  with  no  clumsy  intervention  of  tele- 
graphic posts  and  wires,  the  mind  may  send  out  its  thoughts, 
on  invisible  electric  waves,  to  the  remembered  and  distant 
objects  of  its  devotion.  / 

It  was  about  midnight  when  I resolved  on  an  effort  to 
impress  the  mind  of  Mrs.  Brittan.  We  were  separated  by 
an  intervening  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
in  a direct  line.  Abstracting  the  mind  from  the  sphere  of 
outward  and  visible  objects,  I labored  for  some  time — I know 
not  how  long — in  one  intense  effort  of  mind.  I sought  to 
invest  my  thoughts  with  forms,  and  to  bear  them  away  to 


296 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


the  hearth  and  home  where  the  shadows  of  their  forms  might 
fall  on  the  passive  spirit,  causing  it  to  have  dreams  and 
visions  of  the  objects  and  scenes  my  fancy  had  portrayed. 
Nor  was  this  an  abortive  effort.  On  my  return,  Mrs.  B. 
related  a singular  dream  that  occurred  in  my  absence,  and 
on  the  identical  night  already  described.  Improbable  as  the 
statement  may  appear  to  many  persons,  the  dream  corres- 
ponded, in  its  essential  particulars,  to  the  imaginary  images 
I had  fashioned  on  the  occasion  of  that  midnight  abstraction. 
^ It  may  be  objected  that  a knowledge  of  such  mysterious 
agents,  and  the  exercise  of  such  faculties,  confer  a dangerous 
power.  That  will  depend  on  the  character  of  those  who 
possess  the  knowledge  and  exercise  the  faculty.  All  power 
is  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  bad  men.  The  man  who  has  a 
large,  muscular  arm  may  seize  his  victim  in  the  public  high- 
way— rob  him  of  his  purse  or  of  his  life — but  it  is  neverthe- 
less desirable  to  have  a strong  arm.  The  voice  that  thrills 
us  with  its  divine  music  may  be  used  to  beguile.  The  syren 
may  float  on  the  stream  of  its  burnished  eloquence,  only  to 
entrance  the  unconscious  victim  with  a bewildering  and  fatal 
enchantment.  The  Press,  though  among  the  world’s  greatest 
blessings,  may  be  so  perverted  as  to  become  its  most  Avither- 
ing  curse.  When  wielded  by  unscrupulous  men — men  who 
denounce  the  noblest  gifts  of  Heaven  as  satanic  emanations — 
it  becomes  a scourge.  When  the  innocent  and  the  humble 
are  defamed — the  poor  defrauded  of  reputation  and  the 
means  of  usefulness — when  Reason  and  Science  are 


“ Impeached  of  Godlessness,” 

then  does  the  Press  become  a dangerous  power  ; and  tlio 


MENTAL  TELEGRAPH  INU. 


297 


fearful  responsibility  of  its  prostitution  to  some  of  these 
unholy  purposes  will  be  likely  to  rest  on  a somewhat  numer- 
ous class  of  American  journalists. ' 

Delicate  nerves  are  doubtless  sometimes  temporarily  de- 
ranged by  an  inexperienced  practitioner.  But  this  furnishes 
no  substantial  ground  of  objection.  It  does  not  prove  that 
the  agent  is  necessarily  a dangerous  one  ; but  it  forcibly 
illustrates  the  great  danger  of  that  incorrigible  ignorance 
which  so  many  affectionately  cherish.  A clumsy  and  un- 
practiced surgeon  might  sever  an  artery,  and  leave  his 
patient  to  expire  fi'om  loss  of  blood  ; but  we  must  look 
elsewhere  for  a valid  objection  to  surgery,  since  this  only 
too  clearly  demonstrates  the  paramount  importance  of  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject.  There  have  always 
been  ignorant  pretenders  in  every  art  and  science,  as  there 
have  been  hypocrites  in  religion  for  whose  ignoble  conduct, 
neither  the  sacred  cause  itself,  nor  its  more  faithful  disciples, 
should  be  deemed  responsible.  Examples  are  not  wanting 
wherein  every  great  and  God-like  attribute  has  been  per- 
verted ; and  there  is  no  position,  how  exalted  soever,  that 
has  not  been  invaded  by  the  tempter,  and  from  which  men 
have  not  descended  to  realms  where  dwell  the  children  of 
perdition.  The  apostleship  of  “one  of  the  twelve”  was  the 
very  instrumentality  employed  in  the  betrayal  and  death  of 
•the  Master  5 but  Religion  is  still  a sublime  reality  ; and 
Jesus — viewed  at  the  coronation  of  Calvary — is  shorn  of 
none  of  his  peculiar  glory .y 


CHAPTER  XXY. 


THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION. 

Introversion  of  the  Mind — Ideal  and  practical  Men — Facts  universally  per 
ceived — Principles  seldom  comprehended — Analytical  and  synthetical 
Powers— Vulgar  conceptions  of  Utility — Fasting  and  Asceticism — Customs 
of  the  Ancient  Prophets — Worshiping  in  Groves  and.  Mountains — The 
Druids — Consecration  of  desolate  places  — Influence  of  mental  Introver- 
sion on  Sensation — Archimedes  of  Syracuse — Statesmen,  Philosophers 
and  Poets — The  mental  Foci — State  of  Entrancement — Perversion  of  the 
Faculty — ^Vital  and  organic  Derangements — Tendency  to  Fanaticism- 
Roger  Bacon  and  Simeon  Stylites. 

I^HE  capacity  of  the  soul  to  withdraw  itself  from  the 
physical  avenues  of  sensation,  and  the  mental  and  corpo- 
real effects  known  to  accompany  the  exercise  of  that  power, 
will  constitute  the  subject  of  the  present  Chapter.  All  per- 
sons accustomed  to  reflection  are  conscious  of  being  al)le  to 
separate  the  mind,  in  some  degree  at  least,  from  tlie  spliere 
of  outward  perception  and  action.  The  measure  of  this 
power  varies  as  the  peculiarities  of  original  constitution  are 
more  or  less  favorable  to  its  exercise  ; and  is  inert  or  ope- 
rative according  to  tlie  temperament,  disposition,  liabits  and 
general  pursuits  of  tlie  individual.  Of  the  nature  of  this 
power,  and  the  magnitude  of  its  consequences,  very  few  en- 
tertain an  adequate  conception. 

Certain  pursuits  require  great  concentration  of  mind  ; but 


THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION. 


299 


it  is  readily  granted  that  others  are  most  successfully  prose- 
cuted by  those  who  are  capable  of  a kind  mental  diffusion 
The  greatest  intensity  and  power  are  exhibited  when  the 
mental  energies  concenter.  I would  not  speak  disrespect- 
fully of  any  class  of  minds,  nor  designedly  undervalue  the 
feeblest  effort,  if  well  intended  ; but  among  the  so-called 
practical  men — the  men  who  know  how  to  make  money,  and 
to  keep  it — there  is  an  unbecoming  disposition  to  ridicule,  as 
mere  dreamers,  all  who  entertain  an  ideal  that  transcends 
the  dusty  walks  of  vulgar  life.  It  is  conceded  that  those  who 
pursue  some  miscellaneous  business — for  example,  the  man 
who  sells  goods  and  the  writer  of  short  items  for  the  news-' 
paper — would  accomplish  comparatively  little,  if  given  to  in- 
tense concentration  and  profound  abstraction  of  mind,  since 
the  successful  discharge  of  their  respective  duties  is  made  to 
depend  on  the  facility  with  which  the  mind  passes  from  one 
object  to  another.  But  however  indispensable  this  transitive 
faculty  may  be  to  the  man  of  the  world,  it  is  seldom  associated 
with  the  creative  enetgy  of  acknowledged  genius,  or  the  vast 
comprehensiveness  of  the  real  philosopher.  Tlie  class  denom- 
inated practical  men,  may  be  men  of  great  research  and 
careful  observation  ; but  they  are  neither  distinguished  for  an 
intuitive  perception  of  truth,  nor  for  profound  and  inde- 
pendent thought.  Their  minds  are  almost  wholly  employed 
in  the  outer  world.  They  feel  the  force  of  facts  rather  than 
of  principles,  and  hence  realize  the  value  of  the  Senses  while 
they  scarcely  comprehend  the  use  of  Reason.  Such  persons 
seldom  attempt  to  fathom  the  depths  of  human  nature,  while 
they  as  rarely  respect  the  highest  demands  of  the  time. 
’Nevertheless,  they  have  their  appropriate  place  in  the  scale 

19 


300 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  being,  and,  doubtless,  well  perform  their  peculiar  func- 
tions. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  material  objects  and  physical 
phenomena  still  furnish  the  forms  of  evidence  which  appeal 
with  the  greatest  power  to  most  minds.  This  is  manifestly 
true  of  the  multitudes  in  whom  the  reasoning  faculties  are 
but  feebly  exercised.  . An  essential  service  may,  therefore, 
be  rendered  by  recording  the  facts  of  daily  experience,  even 
when  the  individual  himself  is  not  qualified  to  weigh  an  ar- 
gument or  to  feel  the  force  of  a logical  deduction.  It  how- 
ever requires  but  little  intelligence  to  perceive  a .fact  that 
addresses  itself  to  the  outward  sense  ; and  yet  millions  are 
prone  to  restrict  the  operations  of  their  minds  to  the  low 
sphere  of  sensuous  observation.  They  are  often  heard  to  say, 
“I  will  only  believe  when  I can  have  the  evidence  of  my 
senses — I must  see,  hear,  or  handle,  as  the  case  may  require, 
for  myself.’^  Thus  they  unconsciously  but  clearly  define 
their  true  position  ; and  virtually  proclaim  the  fact  that 
they  occupy  the  animal  plane  of  existelice.  The  dog  knows 
enough  to  follow  his  instincts  ; the  wild  beasts  run  to  their 
hiding-places  when  the  tempest  approaches  ; even  the  ass, 
f (proverbial  for  his  stupidity,)  would  inevitably  become  cog- 
nizant of  the  particular  fact,  should  the  roof  of  the  stable 
fall  on  his  head,  though  his  ears  might  never  be  open  to 
a discussion  of  the  general  laws  of  attraction.  The  phi- 
losophy of  such  people — when  they  have  any — is  generally 
fragmentary  and  superficial.  Seldom  or  never  admitted 
into  close  communion  with  the  hidden  principles  of  Nature^ 
they  are  chiefiy  qualified  to  notice  lier  outward  cxju-cssions, 
while  it  is  given  to  other  minds  to  receive  lier  sublime  oi'aclcs, 


THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION. 


301 


Thus  it  would  seem  to  be  the  peculiar  prov  ince  of  one  class 
to  observe  and  record  ; of  the  other,  to  reveal  and  create. 

Among  the  decomposing  agents  in  Nature  may  be  justly 
comprehended  a certain  class  of  minds,  gifted  with  peculiar 
powers  of  analysis,  and  holding  a kind  of  hereditary  mas- 
tery over  the  great  realm  of  little  things.  These  are  often 
sharp  critics,  but  seldom,  indeed,  has  .one  been  a great  poet, 
a profound  philosopher,  or  a comprehensive  historian.  To 
this  class  of  minds,  the  Universe  is  not  One,  but  a disorderly 
aggregation  of  separate  forms  and  distinct  entities,  sustain- 
ing no  very  intimate  relations.  Another,  and  as  we  conceive 
a far  higher  power  is  necessary  in  grouping  the  disorganized 
elements,  so  as  to  form  them  into  new  and  living  creations. 
It  requires  but  an  ordinary  medical  student  and  a scalpel 
to  dissect  a body  that  only  God  could  create. ^ 

Many  of  our  practical  men  appear  to  be  materialists, 
whatever  they  may  be  in  fact  or  in  their  own  estimation. 
They  very  properly  esteem  the  cultivation  of  potatoes  and 
the  growth  of  cotton  as  matters  of  universal  concern  ; but  the 
production  of  ideas  and  the  culture  of  the  soul  are  deemed 
to  be  .interesting  chiefly  to  divines,  metaphyscians,  and  the 
fraternity  of  dreamers.  These  inveterate  utilitarians  esti- 
mate all  things — not  even  excepting  the  grace  of  God  and 
the  ministry  of  Angels — by  their  capacity  to  yield-  an  im- 
mediate practical  result — a result  that  may  he  included  in  the 
next  inventory.  The  genuine  fire  of  Prometheus  is  worthless, ' 
except  it  will  supply  the  place  of  fuel  ; and  the  Muses,  are  / 
they  not  all  fools,  unless  Parnassus  be  made  a corn-field  I 
Such  views,  however  prevalent,  have  not  the  power  to  enlist 
those  who  are  greatly  distinguished  for  independent  thought 


302 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  super-sensual  attainments.  The  man  of  intuitive  nature 
would  rather  be  numbered  with  dreamers,  than  lose  sight  of 
his  immortality. 

/Not  only  the  noblest  thoughts  are  evolved  in  seasons  of 
profound  mental  abstraction,  but  the  mind  is  made  to  feel  a 
deeper  consciousness  of  its  relations  to  the  invisible,  and  is 
rendered  more  susceptible  of  the  influence  of  super-terrestrial 
natures.  Fasting  and  asceticism  materially  aid  in  this  retire- 
ment of  the  soul  from  the  senses.  The  ancient  Prophets  and 
Seers  were  accustomed  to  seek  the  wilderness,  or  some  lonely 
mountain,  where  they  would  invoke  the  spiritual  presence. 
Moses  withdrew  from  the  idolatrous  multitude  into  the 
Mount,  where,  surrounded  by  the  sublimities  of  Nature,  he 
is  supposed  to  have  received  the  Law.  It  was  when  the 
Prophet  bowed  his  head  and  covered  his  face  with  his  mantle 
— shutting  out  from  his  senses  the  impressive  symbols  of  the 
tempest  and  the  fire — that  the  “ still  small  voice”  obtained 
an  utterance  in  his  soul.  Christ  found  in  the  desert  soli- 
tudes the  spiritual  strength  which  earthly  companionsliip 
could  not  afibrd.  Protracted  fasting,  a home  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  silent  communion  with  the  Spirit-world,  served  to 
diminish  his  susceptibility  of  mere  pliysical  suffering,  and  to 
render  him  strong  in  spirit,  and  mighty  to  endure  his  trial. 
The  ancients  seem  to  have  been  deeply  conscious  of  the  fact 
that  retirement  from  the  world  was  necessary  to  the  highest 
functions  of  the  immortal  nature,  and  to  all  the  noblest  tri- 
umphs of  the  mind.  Hence  the  Patriarchs  planted  groves 
as  places  of  worship,  and  preferred  to  perform  their  religious 
rites  on  the  summits  of  lofty  mountains.  The  Druids,  who 
were  hold  in  the  greatest  veneration  by  the  ancient  Britons 


THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION.  ‘^03 

and  Gauls,  consecrated  the  most  desolate  scenes  in  nature  to 
the  purposes  of  their  religion,  and  to  the  education  of  their 
youth,  who  were  required  to  retire  into  caves  and  the  deepest 
i-ecesses  of  the  forest,  sometimes  for  a period  of  twenty 
years.  Manifestly,  all  these  discerned  the  shadow  of  the 
same  great  law,  and  sought  to  quicken  and  invigorate  the 
soul  by  withdrawing  it  from  the  scenes  of  its  earthly  life. 

Since  the  mind  may  govern  the  distribution  of  the  forces 
of  vital  motion,  it  is  but  natural  that  all  the  fluids,  and  more 
especially  that  refined  aura  which  pervades  the  nervous 
system,  and  is  the  agent  of  its  mysterious  functions — should 
recede  from  the  external  surfaces  of  the  body,  whenever  the 
mind  is  deeply  abstracted.  If,  in  the  order  of  the  Universe,'  ^ 
mind  be  superior  to  matter,  we  are  authorized  to  presume*^  ^ 
that  the  latter  is  of  necessity  subject  to  the  former.  That 
mind  is  an  ever  active  force,  and  that  matter,  separately  con- 
sidered, is  inert  and  destitute  of  the  power  of  motion,  is 
illustrated  by  the  various  phenomena  which  spring  from 
their  most  intimate  relations.  In  proportion,  therefore,  as 
the  mind  is  abstracted,  the  sensorial  medium  must  be  with- 
drawn from  the  extremities  of  the  nerves,  and  the  natural 
susceptibility  of  the  organs  be  temporarily  suspended.  But 
we  are  not  necessarily  confined  to  the  argument'  a priori  in 
the  illustration  of  our  proposition.  Facts,  cognizable  by  the 
senses,  are  disclosed  to  the  observation  of  all,  and  these  lead 
us  to  the  same  general  conclusion.  It  is  well  known  that 
whenever  a state  of  mental  abstraction  is  induced,  it  serves 
to  deaden  the  sensibility  to  pain,  and  to  diminish  the  con- 
sciousness of  outward  danger.  When  all  the  powers  of  the 
soul  are  engrossed  witli  some  one  great  object  or  idea,  no 


304 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


room  is  left  for  the  intrusion  of  thoughts  or  purposes  of 
inferior  moment.  Then  earth  and  time,  with  their  gilded 
treasures  and  empty  honors,  are  disregarded,  and  in  our 
S transfiguration  we  forget  that  we  are  mortal. 

It  can  not  be  necessary  to  cite  a great  number  of  facts  in 
this  connection.  Yet  illustrations  of  the  principle  are  scat- 
tered through  all  history.  The  martyrs  of  Liberty  and 
Religion,  whose  shouts  of  victory  and  songs  of  triumph  have 
risen  above  the  discord  of  war,  or  been  heard  amidst  the 
crackling  fagots  at  the  stake,  show  how  regardless  mortals 
are  of  danger,  how  almost  insensible  to  pain  is  man,  when 
the  soul  is  fired  by  a holy  enthusiasm,  and  all  its  powers 
consecrated  to  a sacred  cause.  But  not  in  these  pursuits  and 
conquests  alone  do  men  experience  this  deadening  of  the 
external  senses.  All  persons  of  studious  habits  are  con- 
scious of  a similar  loss  of  physical  sensibility,  whenever  the 
mind  is  profoundly  occupied.  Some  men  possess  this  power 
of  abstraction  in  a very  remarkable  degree  ; and  persons  of 
this  class  have  often  been  greatly  distinguished  for  their 
boldness  and  originality  of  thought.  ^A.  gentleman,  known 
to  many  of  our  readers,  has,  on  several  occasions,  while  ad- 
dressing public  assemblies  on  some  important  subject,  expe- 
rienced a temporary  loss  of  sensation,  accompanied  by  an 
abnormal  quickening  of  the  mental  and  moral  faculties  ; so 
that  while  all  forms  of  persons,  and  other  objects  within  the 
range  of  vision,  were  gradually  obliterated,  the  understand- 
ing was  mysteriously  illuminated.  While  under  the  inllii- 
ence  of  this  spell,  he  loses  all  consciousness  of  time  and 
[)lace,  and  speaks  with  far  more  than  his  accustomed  ease 
and  power.y 


THE  FACULTY  OP  ABSTRACTlOxY.  305 

That  this  abstraction  diminishes  physical  sensibility,  and 
renders  the  mind  indifferent  to  outward  objects,  and  even 
regardless  of  the  body,  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
Archimedes  of  Syracuse.  When  his  native  city  was  be- 
sieged and  taken  by  the  Romans,  Metellus,  their  commander, 
desired  to  spare  the  life  of  this  distinguished  man  ; but,  in 
the  midst  of  the  conflict,  a soldier  entered  his  apartment  and 
placed  a glittering  sword  at  his  throat.  The  great,  geome- 
trician wms  engaged  in  the  solution  of  a problem,  and  so 
deeply  absorbed  that  he  remained  calm  and  unawed  by 
the  certain  prospect  of  death.  At  length,  with  great  ap- 
parent calmness,  he  said,  “ Hold,  but  for  one  moment,  and 
my  demonstration  will  be  finished  !”  But  the  soldier  seeing 
a box  in  which  Archimedes  kept  his  instruments,  and  think 
ing  it  contained  gold,  was  unable  to  resist  the  temptation, 
and  killed  him  on  the  spot. 

^o  be  greatly  distinguished  in  any  department  of  thought, 
it  becomes  necessary  that  the  theme  should  engross  all  the 
mental  energies  ; and  this  demands  a separation  of  the  fac- 
ulties of  the  mind  from  other  objects,  and,  in  a degree,  from 
the  whole  sphere  of  sensuous  impressions.  We  may  judge 
of  the  extent  of  the  mind^s  abstraction  from  the  body  by 
the  increasing  insensibility  to  outward  objects  and  circum- 
stances. In  proportion  as  the  soul  is  engaged  by  internal 
realities,  we  lose  the  consciousness  of  external  forms,  and 
become  insensible  to  impressions  on  the  physical  organs. 
The  statesman  is  lost  in  the  midst  of  his  profound  design  ; 
wlien  oppressed  with  the  nation’s  care,  he  heeds  not  the 
beauty  that  crowds  the  gilded  avenues  of  fashionable  life. 
The  philosopher  loses  his  own  individuality  in  the  deeper 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


‘m 

consciousness  of  all  that  is  around,  beneath  and  above  him. 
^Awed  by  the  sublime  presence  of  Nature  ; standing  unvailed 
before  her  august  ministers,  and  questioning  her  living  ora,- 
cles,  he  heeds  no  more  the  petty  strifes  of  common  men. 
The  poet  is  charmed  in  his  reveries.  Far  away  from  earth 
and  its  grossness,  he  feels  the  pulses  of  a life  more  spiri- 
tual and  divine.  An  angelic  magnetism  separates  him  from 
the  world,  and  he  is  borne  away  to  other  spheres,  and 
worlds  invisible  my  disclosed  to  the  mysterious  vision  of 
Genius.) 

It  is  especially  when  man  is  thus  separated  from  the  earth- 
life,  that  the  soul  gives  birth  to  its  noblest  creations,  and 
realizes  something  of  the  divine  in  its  ideal.  The  highest 
truths  are  begotten  from  the  Heavens.  It  is  only  when  the 
soul  retires  to  the  inmost,  and  receives  its  impregnation  from 
the  forces  of  angelic  life  and  thought,  that  its  conceptions 
are  truly  exalted  and  spiritual.  When  the  mental  energies 
are  divided  and  dissipated  among  a variety  of  outward 
objects,  the  mind  makes  no  conquests.  Mist  and  darkness 
gather  around  the  higliest  subjects  of  human  thought. 
Minds  thus  constituted  and  exercised  cause  a divergence  of 
the  light  that  shines  thrcugh  them,  while  others  possess  a 
mighty  focal  ijoiver,  under  which  all  subjects  become  lumi- 
nous ; the  light  of  the  mental  world  finds  a point  of  concen- 
tration, and  tlie  soul  burns  up  the  very  grossiiess  and 
darkness  which  obstructed  its  vision.  In  all  things  tlie  in 
tensity  of  action  is  dependent  on  the  accumulation  of  foi-ces. 
The  various  agents  in  Nature  are  rendered  ])otent  by  the 
processes  necessary  to  concentrate  their  essential  virtues  and 
their  peculiar  action.  Archimedes,  the  great  geometrician 


THE  FACULTY  OF  ABSTRACTION. 


307 


of  antiquity,  destroyed  a Roman  fleet,  more  than  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  setting  it  on  fire  by  the  glasses  with  which 
he  concentrated  the  sun’s  rays.  When  the  electric  medium 
is  everywhere  equally  diffused,  its  power  is  neutralized  and 
we  are  insensible  of  its  presence  ; but  when  powerfully  con- 
centrated, it  rends  the  darkest  cloud,  and  reveals  to  us  the 
glory  of  the  heavens  beyond.  Thus,  when  the  mental  forces 
converge,  we  become  aware  of  the  mind’s  power  ; the  clouds ' 
that  vailed  the  deepest  problems  of  Nature,  break  and  pass  ( 
away,  and  amid  the  illuminated  mysteries  we  follow  the  ' 
kindling  soul  b}^  its  track  of  fire  ! 

Those  who  are  profoundly  abstracted,  are  often  magne- 
tized by  the  Angels.  Not  merely  as  an  agreeable  fancy,  but 
rather  as  a solemn  and  beautiful  reality,  do  I entertain  and 
express  the  thought.  Some  higher  intelligence  wins  the 
rapt  soul  away  from  earth,  and  it  dwells  above  and  blends 
with  the  Infinite.  In  the  charmed  hours  when  we  are  able"! 
to  retire  from  the  dull  sphere  of  grosser  life,  we  think  most' 
deeply  and  truly.  Only  when  earthly  sounds  are  hushed^  ^ 
when  earthly  scenes  grow  dim  and  then  invisible,  do  we 
ascend  to  the  highest  heaven  of  thought.  Communion  with 
external  nature  ; the  investigation  of  her  interior  laws  j 
the  consciousness  of  the  still  higher  spiritual  realities  that 
surround  us,  and  the  soul’s  true  worship,  are  the  subjects  and 
exercises  best  adapted  to  induce  this  state  of  mind.  When 
wholly  absorbed  with  the  material  objects  and  events  of 
time,  the  mind  is  fettered  in  its  thought.  Chained  down  to 
earth  by  a material  magnetism,  it  is  difficult  to  rise  above 
the  cramped  plane  of  artificial  life.  For  this  reason  the 
mind’s  noblest  monuments  have  ever  been  wrought  out  from 


308 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


invisible  worlds,  where,  vailed  forever,  are  the  sources  of  its 
liighest  inspiration. 

In  conclusion,  I must  speak  briefly  of  the  dangers  inci- 
dental to  the  exercise  of  this  power.  While  a just  obser- 
vance of  the  principle  under  consideration  must  serve  to 
quicken  and  inspire  the  faculties,  history  has  recorded  many 
melancholy  examples  of  its  perversion  to  the  most  painful 
and  fatal  ends.  So  great  is  the  power  of  mind  over  the 
body,  that  portions  of  the  animal  economy  are  sometimes 
paralyzed  by  its  action.  Constant  exercise  of  mind,  with- 
out the  use  of  the  senses,  not  only  tends  to  withdraw  the 
circulating  medium  of  the  nervous  system  from  the  external 
surfaces,  but,  of  necessity,  renders  the  health  and  life  of  the  j 

body  insecure.  Intense  thought — when  long  continued — j 

may  occasion  an  undue  determination  of  the  vital  forces  and  j 

fluids  to  the  brain,  and  thus  produce  congestion  or  some  i 

derano’ement  of  the  faculties.  The  conditions  of  mind  and  i 

body,  which  cause  a temporary  suspension  of  sensation,  may,  ] 

if  greatly  protracted,  preclude  the  restoration  of  the  phys-  j 

ical  functions.  I have  known  several  authors  who  have  i 

prematurely  lost  the  sense  of  hearing,  as  there  is  reason  to  j 

believe,  from  this  cause.  ' j 

But  there  are  other  dangers  not  less  fatal  to  personal  use-  j 

fulness,  and  far  more  destructive  to  the  interests  of  society.  > 

This  disposition  to  withdraw  from  the  world  lias  prompted  * 

many  to  neglect  the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  Not  a few  have  1 

been  tempted  to  fly  from  all  civilized  society,  and  have  spent 
their  lives  in  caves  and  mountains,  away  from  tlie  ills  which  | 

they  had  not  the  manhood  to  meet.  It  is  a morbid  alienation  ' 

of  reason,  with  a sickly  disgust  of  life  and  all  temporal  in-  ; 


THE  FACULTY  OP  ABSTRACTION. 


309 


tercsts,  that  leads  to  these  extremes.  Neither  Nature  nor  the 
spirit  of  Divine  wisdom  can  be  the  incentive  to  action,  when 
men  thus  disregard  their  relations  to  this  world,  and  treat 
the  gifts  of  God  and  the  blessings  of  earth  with  pious 
scorn.  The  ascteicism  that  prevailed  in  the  early  Church,  \ 
and  the  corporeal  inflictions  that  men  in  different  ages  , 
have  voluntarily  suffered,  witness  to  us  how  sadly  the 
noblest  powers  and  privileges  may  be  perverted.  Think  , 
of  old  Eoger  Bacon,  the  anchoret ; and  Simeon  Stylites,  dis- 
tinguished among  the  Ascetics  as  the  renowned  pillar-saint,  . 
what  a martyr  was  he  !’  There  may  be  no  more  like  these  ; 
but  there  are,  yet  in  the  flesh,  many  victims  of  their  own 
melancholy  whims  ; men  whose  disgust  of  this  laboring  world  | 
proceeds  from  a love  of  indolence  and  a fondness  for  dream-  ' 
ing  ; gifted  souls  whose  mission  is  not  to  labor — gifted  with 
visions  in  arm-chairs — visions  of  ease  projected  from  their  ^ 
own  brains — and  who,  if  only  their  usefulness  is  to  be  consid- 
ered, might  as  well  follow  the  example  of  the  English  monk.  ^ 


’ Simeon  Stylites  was  a native  of  Syria.  He  lived  during  a period  of  thirty - 
seven  years  on  the  top  of  a pillar,  gradually  increasing  its  hight  as  he  be- 
came lean  in  body  and  sublimated  in  soul,  until  he  obtained  the  elevation, 
coporeal  and  spiritual,  of  some  sixty  feet.  Having  progressed  to  this  sublime 
extent,  he  acquired  a great  reputation  as  an  oracle,  and  became  the  head  of 
a sect,  the  history  of  which  can  be  distinctly  traced  for  more  than  five 
hundred  years. 


CHAPTER  XXVI, 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 

Introductory  Observations — Analogy  between  the  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Kingdoms — Uninterrupted  slumber  of  the  Foetus — Remarkable,  tendency 
to  somnolence  in  Young  Children — Reasons  why  they  require  more  Sleep 
thau  Adults — General  condition  and  aspects  of  the  Sleeper— Philosophy  of 
the  Physical  Phenomena — Boerhaave’s  brass  pan  and  water  Soporific — Uni- 
versal Action  and  Reaction — Diurnal  ebb  and  flow  of  Vital  Forces  and 
Fluids — Brief  Digest  of  Physiological  Facts  and  Observations — We  sleep 
and  wake  under  the  action  of  an  irresistible  Law — Loss  of  the  Vital  Equi- 
librium in  Cataleptic  and  other  Trances — Sleep  essential  to  Vital  Harmony 
and  the  preservation  of  Life — Its  Moral  Influence  and  Spiritual  Ministry. 

“Sleep  halh  its  own  world 

And  a wide  realm  of  wild  reality, 

And  dreams  in  their  development  have  breath, 

And  tears,  and  tortures,  and  the  touch  of  joy.” 

The  remarkable  physiological  changes  invariably  devel- 
oped in  Sleep,  and  the  mysterious  psychical  phenomena 
that  frequently  accompany  the  state,  have  engaged  the  at- 
tention of  ancient  and  modern  philosophers,  and  given  birth 
to  many  curious  conjectures  and  speculative  theories.’  Yet 
so  little  has  been  positively  determined,  in  respect  to  the  true 
philosophy  of  Sleep,  and  the  immediate  or  remote  causes  of 

i Those  who  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  the  fixcts  and  theories  ob- 
served and  entertained  by  the  most  distinguished  authors  who  luive  writlen 
on  the  subject,  may  peruse  the  works  of  Aristotle,  Lucretius,  Democritus, 
Locke,  Newton,  Stewart,  Abercrombie,  Macnish.  and  Dr.  George  Moore. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OP  SLEEP. 


311 


its  corpoi'cal  and  metaphysical  concomitants,  that  the  author 
of  the  last  physiological  treatise  commences  his  chapter  on 
this  particular  subject,  thus  : “ What  is  Sleep  ? We  do  not 
hiowJ’^  After  this  very  modest  confession,  the  author  re- 
ferred to  occupies  twenty-two  pages  with  a view  of  impart- 
ing instruction  to  others.  That  the  subject  presents  many 
difficult  problems,  is  readily  granted  ; and  the  present  writer 
has  not  the  vanity  to  presume  that  he  will  be  able  to  afford 
such  a solution,  in  every  instance,  as  will  wholly  satisfy  the 
judgment  of  the  reader.  Nevertheless,  the  discovery  and 
elucidation  of  certain  fundamental  principles — overlooked 
or  disregarded  by  others — may  furnish  to  some  future  in- 
quirer a key  wherewith  he  shall  unlock  the  Arcana  of  our 
unconscious  existence,  and  more  fully  explore  the  enchanted 
avenues  that  lead  to  our  eternal  life. 

The  state  denominated  Sleep  occurs  with  considerable 
regularity  through  all  the  gradations  of  human  and  animal 
existence.  Moreover,  a condition  resembling  this — in  its 
essential  nature,  and  phenomenal  aspects — is  scarcely  less 
perceptible  in  the  economy  of  vegetable  life.  The  leaves  of 
plants  alternately  droop  or  assume  an  erect  position,  and  the 
flowers  open  and  close  their  petals,  as  they  are  exposed  to 
the  alternations  of  light  and  shade,  and  the  vicissitudes  of 
moisture  and  temperature.  In  the  vegetable  as  well  as  in 
the  animal  kingdom,  the  period  of  repose  is  not  the  same 
with  all  the  species  and  genera.  While  the  Acacia  spreads 
its  leaves  horizontally  to  the  rising  sun,  or  vertically 

“ When  the  sun  is  high  in  his  meridian  tower, 

the  night  blooming  Cerea  (a  species  of  cactus,  indigenous 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


in  the  island  of  Jamaica)  only  opens  the  enormous  corolla 
in  darkness,  and  pours  out  the  wealth  of  precious  aroma  on 
the  midnight  air.  Nor  does  the  analogy  between  tliese  two 
great  kingdoms  in  Nature,  terminate  here.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  process  of  assimilation,  in  all  organized  forms,  is 
accelerated  during  the  period  of  Sleep  ; and  it  is  no  less  ap- 
parent tliat  the  condition  of  many  plants  in  winter  resembles 
the  hibernating  existence  of  certain  animals. 

The  exceptions  to  the  general  law  may  be  few  or  many  ; 
still  light  and  darkness  doubtless  sustain  natural  relations  to 
activity  and  repose.  The  Avorld  awakes  in  the  morning,  not 
so  much  from  the  force  of  habit  as  by  the  power  of  an  irre- 
sistible law.  The  god  of  day  opens  the  palace  halls  of  the 
Orient  that  the  earth  may  rejoice  in  the  light  of  his  smile. 
In  his  presence  the  majestic  mountains  are  arrayed  in  soft 
robes  of  living  beauty,  while  the  valleys  blossom  and  offer 
grateful  incense.  Weird  strains  of  sweet  and  joyful  music 
echo  through  Nature’s  airy  halls  ; there  is  prayer  in  the  as- 
piring tendency  of  all  tilings  ; the  Divine  presence  is  every- 
wliere  visible  in  outward  forms  ; and  life  itself  is  a manifold 
benediction.  In  the  morning  man  goes  to  his  labor  with  a 
light  heart  and  elastic  step  ; and  millions  of  sentient  beings 
are  made  glad  by  the  possession  of  conscious  and  delighted 
existence.  Labor  and  rest  are  alike  divine  benehictions/ 
When  they  succeed  each  other  at  proper  intervals,  they  are 
equally  pleasurable.  After  protracted  toil  and  incessant 
activity  we  become  weary,  and  a season  of  relaxation  is  re- 
quired to  restore  the  normal  energies  of  the  system.  Then 
the  discordant  sounds  of  day  give  place  to  silence,  and  vig- 
orous action  is  succeeded  by  profound  repose.  While  the 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 


o 1 o 

busy  world  quietly  slumbers  through  the  night  watches,  the 
earth  is  clothed  with  fresher  verdure  and  more  vivid  beauty  ; 
and  with  the  coming  light  Man  goes  forth  with  all  his 
powers  renewed. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  physiologists  Sleep  is  uninter- 
rupted during  the  periods  of  embryotic  formation  and  foetal 
development.  This  is  doubtless  true  so  far  as  regards  con- 
sciousness ; the  use  of  the  organs  of  special  sensation,  and 
the  exercise  of  all  the  voluntary  powers  of  mind  and  body. 
Thus  we  commence  our  individual  existence  in  a state  of 
oblivious  repose,  and  having  completed  the  career  on  earth, 

“ Our  life  is  rounded  with  a sleep.” 

Moreover,  with  the  new  born  child  the  extraordinary  ten- 
dency to  somnolence  continues  for  some  time  after  the  out- 
ward conditions  of  being  are  entirely  changed  ; and  very 
young  children — so  long  as  they  are  neither  disturbed  by 
pain  nor  the  imperative  demands  for  food — pass  most  of 
their  time  in  sleep.  At  this  early  period  of  human  life,  a 
strong  inward  concentration  of  the  electric  forces  is  doubt- 
less required  to  develop  the  vital  powers  and  to  stimulate  the 
functions  of  the  entire  nutritive  system.  The  processes  of  di- 
gestion and  assimilation  are  known  to  be  extremely  rapid  in 
infant  children.  Hence  the  growth  of  the  body  is  greatest 
during  the  earliest  periods  of  our  existence.  . But  by  de- 
grees, as  the  human  economy  is  unfolded,  the  chemical  action 
and  organic  movement  become  slower,  and  the  molecular 
deposits  are  proportionately  less.  The  individual  is  more 
wakeful,  and  ^the  electrical  motive  power  of  the  organs 
exhibits  a greater  determination  to  the  nerves  and  muscles 


314 


MAX  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


of  voliiLtary  motion.  This  is  accompanied  with  increased 
vascular  action,  a higher  temperature,  and  the  development 
of  muscular  power.  Wherever  the  agent  of  vital  motion 
and  sensation  is  especially  employed,  or  most  powerfully 
concentrated,  there  the  most  decided  effects  will  be  pro- 
duced. Hence  the  greater  activity  of  the  digestive  and 
nutritive  powers  of  young  children,  and  their  amazing 
growth  during  the  first  year  of  their  lives.  Here,  also, 
we  may  discover  the  reason  why  the  subsequent  stages  oi 
corporeal  development  become  slower  in  proportion  as  our 
years  are  multiplied,  and  we  are  prompted  by  inclination 
or  necessity  to  expend  a greater  portion  of  vital  energy  in 
the  active  pursuits  of  life. 

I propose  to  discuss  the  philosophy  of  Sleep  chiefly  in  its 
relations  to  human  nature.  The  electric  agent  of  all  vital 
and  voluntary  motion,  and  of  our  sensorial  impressions,  is 
rapidly  expended  while  we  are  actively  employed.  During 
our  waking  hours  the  forces  of  the  nervous  system  go  out  in 
an  increased  degree  to  the  extremities,  and  to  the  entire  ex- 
ternal surface  of  the  body.  The  voluntary  nerves  and 
muscles  are  electrically  charged,  which  quickens  the  vasculai* 
functions  in  all  the  organs  that  are  directly  influenced  by  the 
will ; at  the  same  time  the  temperature  at  the  surface  is  in- 
creased in  a correspondent  degree.  But  as  the  vital  motive 
power — accumulated  during  the  previous  season  of  repose — 
is  gradually  dissipated,  by  the  mental  efforts  and  industrial 
})ursuits  of  the  day,  the  wliole  body  is  enfeebled  ; a feeling 
of  general  lassitude  seizes  every  faculty  ; the  functions  arc 
all  performed  with  greater  labor,  and  arc  attended  by  a 
constantly  increasing  sensation  of  fatigue  and  exhaustion. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 


B15 


At  lengtli  the  electro-nervous  forces  suddenly  react,  and  the 
whole  circulation  at  once  exhibits  a similar  tendency  toward 
the  centers  of  nervous  energy,  and  the  organs  of  vital 
motion.  Sensorial  susceptibility  is  rapidly  diminished  ; the 
impressions  on  the  mind  are  gradually  obscured,  distorted 
and,  at  last,  obliterated  ; there  is  less  action  in  the  sub-cuta- 
neous nerves  and  in  all  the  superficial  ramifications  of  the 
arterial  and  venous  systems  ; the  muscles  are  completely 
relaxed  ; every  limb  is  chained  and  motionless,  and  the  giant 
is  as  powerless  as  the  child. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  the  reaction  of  the  ner- 
vous forces — as  it  occurs  in  natural  sleep — may  be  induced 
by  various  artificial  means.  Several  expedients  have  been 
successfully  resorted  to  with  a view  of  producing  this  state. 
Indeed,  whatever  may  serve  to  disengage  the  mental  facul- 
ties, or  to  limit  their  exercise  ; in  short,  any  device  that  will 
call  home  the  thoughts,  and  fix  the  attention  on  a single  idea 
or  object,  will  materially  aid  in  producing  the  psycho-physi- 
ological condition  that  results  in  Sleep.  When  the  mind  is 
withdrawn  from  the  external  world,  and  the  forms  and  ele- 
ments adapted  to  excite  a variety  of  sensations — whether  of 
pleasure  or  pain — are  persistently  disregarded,  the  senses, 
one  by  one,  cease  to  act,  and  we  approach  the  mystical  realm 
of  forgetfulness.  When  a single  sensation  or  thought  is  all 
that  yet  remains,  it  is  only  necessary  to  obliterate  the  last 
impression  from  the  mind,  and  total  obliviousness  must 
necessarily  supervene.  Hence  those  occupations  that  de- 
mand the  combined  exercise  of  several  faculties^  render  the 
actors  wakeful,  while  monotonous  employments  are  quite 
likely  to  produce  opposite  effects  on  all  who  are  thus  en- 

20 


316 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATTONS. 


gaged.  Monotonous  sounds  invariably  exert  a similar  influ- 
ence on  the  sensories  and  the  mind.  When  Boerhaave  had 
a restless  patient  who  could  not  sleep,  he  prescribed  the  reg- 
ular dropping  of  water  on  a brass  pan  as  a soporific.  Look- 
ing steadily  in  one  direction,  and  at  the  same  object,  will 
produce  the  same  general  results.  For  this  reason  the  psy- 
chological experimenters  are  accustomed  to  place  a small 
coin  or  other  object  in  the  hand  of  the  subject,  and  on  which 
he  is  required  to  fix  his  attention.  A speaker  who  chiefly 
exereises  a single  faculty,  will  be  sure  to  make  his  hearers 
drowsy,  while  one  who  agreeably  diversifies  his  discourse,  by 
successful  appeals  to  a number  of  different  faculties,  will  so 
excite  the  electric  forces  of  the  brain  as  to  render  the  hearer 
wakeful  and  attentive.  The  orator  whose  voice  is  skillfully 
managed,  whose  argument  is  clothed  with  poetic  imagery, 
and  whose  “ eloquence  is  logic  set  on  fire,’’  will  always  com- 
mand attention,  and  sway  a scepter  over  the  whole  realm  of 
thought  and  feeling. 

In  every  part  of  the  universal  economy  of  being  there  is 
constant  action  and  reaction.  A common  law — variously 
1 modified  by  the  simple  elements  and  the  organic  structures 
which  it  governs — runs  through  the  entire  creation.  Light 
and  darkness  succeed  each  other  in  regular  alternation  ; 
the  flowers  open  during  the  seasons  of  their  waking  life,  and 
close  when  they  sleep  ; the  ocean  tides  rise  and  fall,  and  the 
waters  ascend  and  descend  ; all  Nature  expands  and  con- 
tracts at  the  approach  of  the  Seasons  ; there  is  perpetual 
influx  and  efflux  through  all  things,  animate  and  inanimate  ; 
and  plants,  and  animals,  and  worlds  respire.  ^The  same  law 
that  directs  the  atmospheric  currents  regulates  tlie  pulses  of 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 


317 


the  sea,  and  governs  alike  the  attractions  and  repulsions  of 
atoms  and  orbs,  of  souls  and  systems./  Action  and  reaction 
are  thus  beautifully  illustrated  in  all  the  phenomena  of  life  ; 
especially  in  respiration,  and  in  the  diastaltic  and  systolic 
motion  of  the  heart  and  the  arteries.  Moreover,  the  vital 
tides  have  their  diurnal  ebb  and  flow.  In  the  morning,  and 
during  the  season  of  our  waking  existence,  the  nervous 
forces  and  the  arterial  circulation  flow  out  to  the  surface, 
and  with  evenirg  comes  the  period  of  recession,  when  the 
tide  of  life  sets  back,  the  outward  channels  are  closed,  and 
the  Soul  retires  in  silence  to  the  Inward  World. 

This  alternate  ebb  and  flow  of  the  nerve- aura,  and,  conse- 
quently, of  the  fluids  of  living  bodies,  is  clearly  illustrated 
by  many  of  the  phenomena  of  organic  and  animal  life. 
Moreover,  if  we  may  presume  that  the  sun  and  moon  regu- 
late the  ocean  tides,  and  otherwise  modify  the  elements  and 
determine  the  conditions  of  physical  existence  on  earth,  it 
would  be  preposterous  to  affirm  that  human  beings  are 
utterly  free  from  the  influence  of  all”  foreign  agents,  and, 
beyond  the  dominion  of  super-terrestrial  powers.  It  is  not, 
however,  my  purpose  to  consider — at  this  time — an  intricate 
question  that  is  so  remotely  related  to  the  subject  of  the 
present  inquiry.  But  the  philosophy  of  Sleep,  and  the 
writer’s  theory  of  the  vital  functions,  may  be  placed  in  a 
clearer  light  and  more  forcibly  illustrated,  by  the  following 
summary  statement  of  physiological  facts  and  observations  : 

I.  It  is  well  known  that  the  objects  and  elements  of  the 
external  world  make  no  impressions  on  the  organs  of  sensa- 
tion during  the  continuance  of  perfect  sleep.  As  life,  how- 
ever, remains,  and  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  still  exist ; 


318 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  especially  as  the  organic  instruments  of  sensorial  per- 
ception are  in  no  degree  impaired,  we  are  left  to  ascribe  the 
temporary  suspension  of  their  appropriate  functions  to  a 
withdrawal  of  the  subtile  medium  of  sensation  from  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  nerves. 

2.  The  relaxed  state  of  the  cutaneous  vessels  and  the  vol- 
untary muscles ; and,  withal,  the  total  absence  of  the  con- 
tractile force  of  the  muscular  fibers — possessed  and  exer- 
cised in  our  waking  hours— furnishes  another  proof  of  the 
absence  of  the  principle,  that  (under  the  direction  of  the 
will)  imparts  to  them  a surprising  activity  and  power. 

3.  The  circulation  is  less  rapid  in  sleep,  and  a similar 
change  occurs  in  the  thoracic  movement ; at  the  same  time, 
the  processes  of  digestion  and  molecular  assimilation  arc. 
accelerated.  These  facts  indicate  an  important  change  in 
the  determination  of  the  motive  forces  of  the  system,  and  one 
that  accords  with  the  writer’s  theory  of  electro-vital  action 
and  reaction. 

4.  In  Sleep  the  circulation  through  all  the  organs  of  vo- 
lition is  materially  diminished,  while  the  cerebrum  contracts 
and  is  inactive.  This  is  not  merely  apparent,  but  the  fact 
has  been  demonstrated  by  Blumenbach,  who — in  the  opera- 
tion of  trepanning  a patient — so  exposed  the  brain  that  he 
could  make  careful  observations.  There  was  an  obvious 
contraction  among  the  congeries  and  convolutions  of  that 
organ  when  the  patient  was  sleeping.  It  seemed  to  close 
like  the  flowers  at  night ; and  like  them  it  opened  in  the 
morning,  or  whenever  the  cerebrum  resumed  its  functious, 

5.  A similar  contraction  of  the  wliole  body  occurs  in 
Sleep,  and  edematous  swellings  frequently  disappear  in  the 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SLEEP. 


319 


night,  or  during  the  intervals  of  oblivious  repose.  These 
efiects  doubtless  result  from  the  internal  tendency  of  the 
forces  that  govern  the  circulation  of  the  animal  fluids,  and 
the  consequent  activity  of  the  lymphatic  or  absorbent  ves- 
sels^ 

6.  The  diminished  action  of  the  ganglionic  nerves  of 
common  sensation,  and  the  limited  circulation  through  all 
the  superficial  channels  of  the  arterial,  venous,  and  capillary 
systems,  is  further  confirmed  by  thermometrical  observa- 
tions, showing  the  influence  of  Sleep  in  reducing  the  tempe- 
rature of  the  surface  of  the  body. 

7.  Diseased  persons,  who  have  an  unnatural  heat  and  dry- 
ness of  the  skin,  are  often  relieved  from  these  symptoms 
during  the  season  of  rest  and  unconsciousness.  These  re- 
sults are  to  be  attributed  in  part  to  the  reaction  of  the 
electro-vital  forces  from  the  surface  ; and,  in  a greater  or 
less  degree,  to  the  dissipation  of  animal  electricity  from  the 
body,  which  occurs  on  the  conductive  principle.  The  in- 
creased perspiration  while  we  sleep  renders  the  cuticle  a 
better  conductor,  and  the  subtile  agent — an  excess  of  which 

' Macknish  mentions  a fact  in  the  experience  of  Dr.  Solander,  who  accom- 
panied Captain  Cook  in  one  or  more  of  his  voyages,  which  will  illustrate  this 
point.  The  Doctor — in  company  with  a friend  and  two  colored  servants — was 
engaged  incollectiug  botanical  specimens  among  the  mountains,  when  he  was 
overcome  with  cold  and  an  irresistible  inclination  to  sleep.  No  one  member 
of  the  party  was  so  well  qualified  to  comprehend  the  danger  of  sleeping 
under  such  circurastanijes,  as  Dr.  Solander  himself ; but  in  spite  of  the  earnest 
efforts  of  his  friend  (Mr?  Banks)  to  keep  him  awake,  he  resigned  his  self-con- 
trol and  fell  asleep.  As  soon  as  Mr.  B.  could  kindle  a fire  he  roused  the 
Doctor  ; but  during  that  brief  slumber  the  powerful  determination  of  the 
electric  forces  and  the  fiuids  toward  the  nervous  centers  and  vital  organs  so 
contracted  his  limbs  that  “ his  shoes  fell  from  his  feet.” — {Lewes'  ^‘■Physiolocy 
of  Common  Life,  pp.  206-7.) 


320 


MAJf  AND  HIS  RELATIO.NS. 

never  fails  to  produce  fevers  or  inflammations — is  more 
readily  disengaged  or  imparted  to  the  surrounding  objects 
and  elements  of  the  earth  and  atmosphere. 

8.  The  vital  action  and  reaction,  or  the  periodical  ebb  and 
flow  of  nervous  energy,  is  still  further  illustrated  by  the  psy- 
cho-electric or  magnetic  powers  of  Man.  Many  practition 
ers  in  the  department  of  Animal  Magnetism  have  observed 
that  this  power  gradually  increases  during  the  morning 
hours — exhibiting  the  utmost  strength  and  intensity  as  the 
sun  approaches  the  meridian — and  that  it  as  regularly  de- 
clines toward  the  close  of  the  day. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  proportion  of  time  required 
to  restore  the  vital  energies  to  the  normal  standard,  is 
varied  by  the  age,  health,  habits,  pursuits  and  other  circum- 
stances of  the  individual.  Hence  arbitrary  rules  and  au- 
thorities that  prescribe  the  same  limits  in  all  cases  are  mani- 
festly incompatible  with  the  laws  of  health.  Young  children 
require  more  sleep  than  adults,  and  unless  this  demand  of 
Nature  is  duly  respected,  the  development  of  the  body  will 
be  slow  and  incomplete.  Moreover,  invalids  and  ail  persons 
whose  vital  constitutions  are  feeble,  must  have  more  time  for 
repose  than  those  vigorous  persons  in  whom  the  recuperative 
powers  are  strong  and  the  processes  of  pliysical  renovation 
more  rapid  and  uniform.  Whenever  the  vital  tide  reaches 
the  proper  point,  the  reaction  occurs  naturally  ; the  nervous 
and  arterial  currents  flow  toward  the  surface  in  an  increased 
measure,  and  the  sleeper  awakes  in  obedience  to  an  essential 
law  of  his  nature. 

But  the  law  here  referred  to,  admits  of  several  important 
exceptions.  These  consist  of  occasional  examples  of  ])ro- 


THE  PHILOSUPHY  OP  SLEEP. 


321 


found  mental  abstraction  or  introversion  ; a predisposition 
to  congestion  of  the  vital  organs,  and  other  forms  of  physi- 
cal derangement,  involving  a temporary  loss  of  the  vital 
balance.  Such  persons  are  liable  to  be  suddenly  deprived 
of  sensation,  voluntary  motion  or  consciousness  ; and  they 
sometimes  relapse  into  cataleptic  trances  in  which  the  or- 
ganic functions  are  entirely  suspended  for  several  days  to- 
gether. It  should  be  remembered  that  a vigorous  applica- 
tion of  natural  agents  and  artificial  means  may — in  such 
cases — aid  in  the  recovery  of  the  vital  equilibrium.  Never- 
theless, the  organic  forces  react  with  remarkable  precision, 
as  often  as  the  process  of  assimilation  has  repaired  the  diur- 
nal waste  of  the  system ; and  with  occasional  exceptions, 
(the  more  important  ones  are  comprehended  in  our  specifica- 
tion,) Nature  should  be  allowed  to  determine  the  respective 
limits  of  our  sleeping  and  waking  existence. 

'^The  regular  alternation  of  the  periods  of  conscious  and  un-  _ 
conscious  life  constitutes  a wise  and  beneficent  arrangement 
in  the  Divine  economy  of  human  existence.  We  could  not 
long  exist  without  Sleep.  The  constant  tension  would  soon 
destroy  the  integrity  of  the  nervous  system  ; the  continuous 
action  of  outward  elements  and  objects  on  the  sensories,  and 
the  perpetual  exercise  of  the  voluntary  faculties — without  so 
much  as  the  possibility  of  repose,  would  drive  the  world  to 
madness ; the  very  tissues  would  waste  away  like  parcH- 
ments  exposed  to  the  fire  • and  the  brain  itself  soften  and 
decompose  under  the  ceaseless  and  intense  action  of  electric 
forces.  But  slumber  is  our  savior  from  these  terrible  evils  ; 
nor  does  its  peaceful  ministry  terminate  here.  Viewed  in 
another  aspect.  Sleep  comes  to  the  restless  and  sorrowing 


322 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


world  with  a healing  balm  and  a holy  benediction.  The 
poor  forget  their  poverty ; beggars  become  princes ; and  the 
exiled,  friendless  and  forgotten  are  honored  with  ovations.y 
/ Nor  is  the  moral  influence  of  Sleep  less  conducive  to  the 
highest  human  interests.  The  peace  of  multitudes  is  daily 
interrupted  by  unpleasant  discords,  and  the  elements  of  our 
own  little  world  are  frequently  and  harshly  disturbed. 
Many  are  annoyed,  and  not  a few  exasperated,  by  the  expe- 
rience of  every  day  ; but  slumber  subdues  their  resentment, 
and  they  awake  at  peace  with  the  world.  It  is  w^orthy  of 
remark  that  capital  offences  are  rarely  committed  early  in 
the  morning,  except  when  the  perpetrators  have  been  awake 
through  the  night.  It  is  usually  after  the  battle  of  the  day, 
when  the  blood  is  heated  ; after  the  nerves  have  been  sub- 
jected to  the  daily  torture,  and  wliile  the  selfish  passions 
are  excited,  that  men  of  discordant  natures  become  reckless 
and  are  driven  to  deeds  of  desperation.  To  all  such  Sleep 
is  a minister  of  righteousness.  The  frequent  recurrence  of 
this  state  prevents  our  becoming  wholly  absorbed  with  the 
ephemeral  interests  of  earth  and  time.  It  disengages  the 
mind,  temporarily,  at  least,  from  the  scenes  of  its  groveling 
and  its  impiisonment.  By  an  invisible  hand  we  are  led 
away  to  the  very  confines  of  mortal  being,  that  we  may 
stand  for  a brief  season  by  the  veiled  portals  of  the  invisi- 
ble Temple.  Next  to  Death,  tho  supreme  pacificator.  Sleep 
is  the  chief  conqueror  of  the  passions,  and  tho  great  harmon- 
izer  of  moral  elements. 

“ Sleep  that  knits  up  the  ravelled  sleeve  of  care, 

The  death  of  each  day’s  life,  sore  labor’s  bath  ; 

Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  Nature’s  second  course, 

Cliief  nourisher  in  life’s  feast.” 


. CHAPTER  XXVIl. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 

General  Observations  on  the  Nature  of  Sleep — Relations  of  Dreams  to  Phy- 
sical Objects  and  Physiological  Laws — Dr.  Gregory’s  Dream— Relations 
of  certain  Dreams  to  the  Passions — Phreno-Magnetism — Dreams  inspired 
by  Whispering  in  the  Ear — Amusing  Experiments  on  a Military  Officer — 
Influence  of  Established  Principles  and  Ideas  in  Dreams — Cuvier’s  nu- 
merous Illustration — Psychometric  Dreaming— Remarkable  Examples  — 
Dreams  Discovering  lost  Property — Witnessing  distant  Occurrences  in 
Sleep— A thrilling  Instance— Philosophy  of  Allegorical  Dreams — The  Au- 
thor’s Examples — Socrates  and  the  Youth  with  the  Flaming  Torch — Re- 
ference to  Professor  Draper's  Views — Relations  of  the  Soul  to  Mental  and 
Moral  Forces — Nature  and  Dream-Land. 

Man  is  susceptible  of  no  condition  that  is  more  remarka- 
ble for  its  beautiful  mysteries  than  Sleep.  Tlie  functions 
of  the  eye  and  the  ear  are  suspended,  and  all  the  outward 
avenues  of  the  senses  are  closed  and  sealed.  The  connec- 
tion and  intercourse  with  the  external  world  being  interrupt- 
ed, our  earthly  plans  are  disregarded  and  forgotten  ; at  the 
same  time  the  scenes  and  objects  presented  in  dreams  and 
“ visions  of  the  night,”  are  discerned  through  inward  vistas 
and  more  ethereal  media.  Having  devoted  the  preceding 
Chapter  to  the  electro-chemical  and  physiological  forces, 
functions  and  aspects  of  living  beings,  as  the  same  are  illus- 
trated in  Sleep,  we  are  now  to  consider  the  psychological 
mysteries  of  the  slumbering  world. 

It  is  well  known  that  Sleep  ordinarily  occurs  in  conse- 


324 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


quence  of  physical  exhaustion  ; but  it  may  bo  induced  by 
several  other  causes.  Extreme  cold — by  driving  the  electri- 
cal forces  and  animal  fluids  from  the  surface  of  the  body  to- 
ward the  centers  of  vital  energy — invariably  occasions 
drowsiness,  and  often  an  irresistible  inclination  to  sleep. 
All  persons  who  experience  death  from  this  cause,  gradually 
lose  sensation  and  consciousness  in  a profound  slumber,  from 
which  they  awake  no  more  on  earth.  Sleep  may  also  be  in- 
duced by  magnetic  manipulations,  the  administration  of  cer- 
tain drugs,  and  by  a variety  of  other  means. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  most  persons  of  careless  ob- 
servation and  superficial  thought  readily  conclude  that  the 
magnetic  sleep  must  be  fundamentally  different  from  a natu- 
ral slumber,  apparently,  for  the  same  reason  that  they  con- 
ceive of  the  ordinary  phenomena  of  life  as  subjeet  to  natural 
law,  whilst  such  occurrences  as  are  extraordinary — in  the 
sense  of  being  infrequent — are  presumed  to  be  miraculous. 
But  this  is  unreasonable  and  false.  In  fact,  and  in  the  com- 
prehensive judgment  of  the  philosopher,  all  objects  and 
events  are  subject  to  law.  Moreover,  the  specific  conditions 
of  body  and  mind  are  never  so  various  as  the  particular  cir- 
cumstances that  operate  in  their  production.  For  illustra- 
tion— the  proximate  causes  of  fever  are  numerous,  and  re- 
quire no  speeification  ; consumption  is  one  form  of  disease, 
whether  produced  by  a cold  or  a scrofulous  diatlicsis  ; and 
insanity  is  only  modified  by  the  peculiar  constitution  and 
incidental  experiences  of  the  individual.  It  is  equally  true 
that  Sleep  is  intrinsically  the  same  state,  whether  occurring 
from  natural  causes  or  as  the  result  of  artificial  expedients. 

If  there  are  satisfactory  illustrations  of  our  philosophy  in 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


325 


tlie  physiological  phenomena  of  Sleep,  we  may  find  others 
not  less  convincing  in  the  coincident  operations  of  the  mind. 
At  times  the  mind  travels  amongst  a multitude  of  obscure 
and  grotesque  images  ; its  impressions  being  all  indefinite, 
and  its  vagaries  numerous,  wild  and  improbable.  While  the 
mind  thus  wanders  along  the  dim  confines  of  our  conscious 
existence — surrounded  by  a phantom  creation — the  Imagina- 
tion may  be  intensely  active  whilst  Reason  reposes  or  be- 
comes unreliable.  This  is  obviously  true  in  respect  to  the 
psychical  phenomena  developed  in  ordinary  sleep  ; and  the 
mental  processes  of  the  magnetic  sleeper  are  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a kind  of  dreaming.  But  while  dreams  are 
often  confused,  disjointed  and  meaningless,  they  are  some- 
times orderly,  connected,  and  deeply  significant.^  If  in  the 
magnetic  slumber  the  mind  occasionally  exhibits  amazing 
powers,  and  important  disclosures  are  made,  it  is  no  less 
apparent  that  dreams  are  in  some  instances  prophetic,  or 
are  otlierwise  rendered  the  vehicles  of  important  informa- 
tion. It  may  also  be  observed  that  the  vision  of  the  Som- 
nambulist and  the  Clairvoyance  developed  in  a state  of  mag- 
netic coma,  are  essentially  the  same,  and  may  be  equally 
clear  and  reliable. 

Moreover,  the  mind  may  be  constantly  active  in  sleep, 
though  our  inward  experiences  leave  no  traces  in  the  walk- 
ing memory,  A large  proportion  of  our  dreams  doubtless 
consist  of  the  irregular  exercises  of  certain  faculties,  in  a 

^ The  suggestions  made  to  the  mind  in  sleep  were  carefully  studied  by 
the  Ancients,  It  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  Cicero  that  a dream  of  Ce- 
cilia, daughter  of  Barbaricus,  elicited  a decree  of  the  Senate  , and  accord- 
ing to  Plutarch,  a grandson  of  Aristides  made  the  interpretation  of  dreams 
a profession,  from  which  he  realized  his  wealth. 


326 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


state  of  incomplete  slumber ; at  tlie  same  time  the  organic 
functions  of  other  faculties  are  temporarily  suspended,  and 
the  avenues  of  sensatioii  imperfectly  closed.  Such  dreams 
may  originate  in  the  existing  states  of  the  system  ; also 
from  the  position  of  the  body,  or  from  its  relations  to  the 
elements,  objects  and  forces  of  the  visible  and  invisible 
worlds.  Any  condition,  object  or  circumstance,  that  either 
obstructs  respiration,  or  serves  to  attract  the  circulation  to 
a particular  part  of  the  body,  may — by  its  influence  in  the 
distribution  of  the  animal  fluids — develop  certain  psycholog- 
ical phenomena.  Sleeping  with  a tight  cravat  might  cause 
a person  to  dream  of  hanging  himself,  or  of  being  strangled 
in  some  other  way  ; and  the  additional  weight  of  two  or 
three  extra  quilts  might  very  naturally  cause  the  sleeper  to 
dream  of  bearing  some  heavy  burden. 

^ Some  time  since  the  writer,  having  retired  at  a late  hour, 
without  opening  a window  of  the  apartment  occupied, 
dreamed — in  the  course  of  the  night— of  being  partially  suf- 
focated in  the  confined  atmosphere  of  a tomb.  In  this  case 
it  is  obvious  that  the  want  of  proper  ventilation  and  a free 
respiration,  produced  the  dream  ; and — by  a law  of  associa- 
tion-supplied the  scene,  and  the  particular  images  that  ac- 
companied the  mental  proceedure.^ 

When  two  or  more  persons  are  in  electro-psychological 
rapport — established  by  direct  physical  contact — the  circu- 

1 The  late  Dr.  Gregory,  of  Scotland,  having  one  night  retired  with  a bottle 
of  hot  water  at  his  feet,  dreamed  that  he  was  ascending  Mount  Etna,  and 
that  the  intense  heat  of  the  ground  rendered  his  journey  unpleasant  and 
painful.  Dreams  of  the  Inquisition  have  originated  in  a paroxyism  of  gout 
and  Macnish  mentions  the  case  of  a person  who  was  inspired  by  a blister  on 
his  head,  and  dreamed  that  he  was  scalped  by  a party  of  Indians. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


327 


latiou  in  botli  will  tend  toward  the  points  oi  conjunction, 
agreeably  to  a natural  and  irrOsistible  law.  This  will  be 
made  apparent  ny  simply  holding  the  hand  of  another  per- 
son. If  the  hand  be  cold  when  the  connection  is  established, 
it  soon  becomes  warm.  The  positive  and  negative,  condi- 
tions and  relations  of  bodies  thus  conjoined,  cause  an  imme- 
diate determination  of  the  electrical  currents  toward  the 
more  negative  portions  of  the  vital  circuit,  and  such  a mu- 
tual attraction  of  the  elements  of  the  circulation  that  the 
blood  vessels  become  distended,  and  the  color  of  the  skin 
clearly  indicates  increased  vascular  action.  Moreover,  what- 
ever changes  the  determination  of  the  nervous  currents,  or 
otherwise  influences  sensation,  is  liable  to  produce  various 
pLsychological  effects. 

The  several  processes  of  secretion,  and  the  predominance  , 
of  certain  faculties,  affections  and  passions,  operate  as  imme- 
diate causes  in  the  production  of  many  dreams  and  visions.  * 
Uncover  the  sleeper  in  a frosty  night  and  he  may  dream  of 
being  cold,  and  his  sensations  will  be  quite  likely  to  suggest  I 
to  the  mind  the  desolate  scenes  of  winter.  Hydrocephalus 
may  cause  one  to  dream  of  water,  or  of  drowning  ; while 
inflammation  of  the  brain  would  as  naturally — through  a 
sensation  of  intense  heat — produce  the  congruous  images  of 
fire  and  its  effects-  The  excessive  accumulation  of  water  in 
the  bladder  will  cause  young  children  to  dream,  and  the 
reaction  of  the  mind  on  the  organs  of  the  body  often  pro- 
duces involuntary  relief.  During  the  period  of  lactation 
mothers  are  liable  to  dream  of  nursing  their  children  ; and 
dreams  of  offspring  frequently  accompany  the  later  stages 
of  utero-gestation.  These,  by  their  vivid  semblance  of  real- 


328 


MAN  AND  ms  RELATIONS. 


ity,  inspire  the  mind  of  the  fair  sleeper  with  all  that  tender 
solicitude  and  intense  pleasure  which  naturally  belong  to 
maternity.  The  mind  of  the  hero — even  when  he  sleeps — 
may  be  peopled  with  the  images  of  war — of  long  marches,  of 
bloody  battle-fields  and  brilliant  victories  ; whilst  the  man 
of  great  reverence  dreams  of  consecrated  places  and  solemn 
assemblies  ; of  devotional  feelings  and  religious  ceremonies. 

The  most  active  faculties  and  the  strongest  impulses  gen- 
erally influence  and  frequently  determine  the  operations  of 
the  mind  in  sleep.  A person  in  whom  the  sexual  passion 
and  the  imagination  are  equally  active  and  strong,'  will  be 
very  likely  to  dream  of  Love  and  its  ideal  forms  and  actual 
concomitants.  In  such  a case,  slight  pressure  on  the  procre- 
ative organs,  by  attracting  the  vital,  electric  forces,  may 
produce  aphrodisiacal  effects,  while  the  physical  orgasm  in- 
evitably projects  analogous  images  before  the  mind.  The 
sleeper  finds  forbidden  pleasures  in  some  enchanted  bower  ; 
or,  in  his  amatory  expeditions, 

‘‘  He  capers  nimbly  in  some  lady’s  chamber, 

To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a'  lute.” 

The  virtuous  lover  as  naturally  dreams  of  the  altar  and  the 
ceremouial — of  the  domestic  fireside  and  the  bridal  couch — 
of  Love’s  silent  ecstacy  and  the  bliss  of  sweet  repose,  where 
peaceful 

‘‘  Sleep  is  on  velvet  eyelids  lightly  pressed, 

And  dreamy  sights  upheave  the  spotless  breast.” 

The  relation  of  the  physical  to  the  mental  processes,  in 
the  illustrations  already  cited,  must  be  clearly  perceived  by 
any  person  of  ordinary  capacity,  and  it  may  be  further  illus- 
trated by  a variety  of  experiments.  The  sense  of  hearing 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


329 


generally  continues  in  operation  some  time  after  tlie  appro- 
priate functions  of  the  other  organs  of  sensation  are  sus- 
pended. The  sleeper  may  hear  imperfectly,  and  even  an- 
swer if  directly  addressed,  when  he  no  longer  possesses  his 
normal  consciousness.  Whispering  in  the  ear  at  this  stage 
of  mental  introversion  will  often  excite  the  faculties  ; and 
while  the  sensorial  impressions  may  be  wholly  forgotten, 
the  operations  of  the  mind  may  be  distinctly  remembered. 
Pressing  a finger  on  or  over  any  particular  organ  or  portion 
of  the  brain,  will  attract  the  nervous  circulation  to  that 
part ; and  this  convergence  of  the  electrical  forces  will  ne- 
cessarily increase  the  cerebral  action,  and  the  functions  of 
the  organs  may  be  involuntarily  performed.  Such  experi- 
ments belong  to  what  has  been  denominated  Plireno-mag- 
netism;  and  though  they  have— with  rare  exceptions — been 
confined  to  subjects  in  the  magnetic  sleep,  they  may  be 
equally  successful  at  the  proper  stage  of  a natural  slumber. 

An  interesting  and  authentic  illustration  of  this  sensorial 
susceptibility,  and  its  relations  to  the  psychological  phenom- 
ena of  sleep,  is  furnished  by  Dr.  Gregory.  An  officer  en- 
gaged in  the  expedition  to  Louisburgh,  in  1685^  exhibited 
while  asleep,  a remarkable  degree  of  mental  impressibility 
through  the  auditory  nerve.  He  was  the  unconscious  sub- 
ject of  many  experiments  which  greatl}!  amused  his  compan- 
ions. They  could  readily  inspire  a dream  by  whispering  in 
his  ear.  On  one  occasion  they  involved  him  in  a quarrel, 
going  through  with  all  the  details,  including  the  prelimina- 
ries for  a hostile  meeting.  When,  at  length,  his  imaginary 
antagonist  was  supposed  to  be  present,  and  ready  for  the 
mortal  contest,  a loaded  pistol  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 


330 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  sleeper,  which  he  promptly  discharged,  and  was  awak- 
ened by  the  report. 

On  another  occasion,  while  he  was  sleeping  on  a locker  in 
the  cabin,  some  one  of  his  companions  caused  him  to  dream 
of  falling  overboard.  He  was  told  that  a shark  was  after 
him,  and  urged  to  swim  for  his  life.  He  instantly  obeyed 
the  suggestion,  striking  out  with  such  vehemence  as  to  throw 
himself  from  the  locker  on  to  the  floor  of  the  cabin. 

After  the  landing  of  the  army  at  Louisburgh,  his  friends 
\ finding  him  asleep  one  day  in  his  tent,  amused  themselves 
again  at  his  expense.  At  first  they  annoyed  the  officer  by 
fiercely  cannonading  his  position.  When  his  apprehensions 
were  awakened,  he  manifested  a desire  to  run.  They  re- 
monstrated against  a precipitate  retreat,  but  still  played 
upon  his  fears,  by  representing  the  shouts  of  the  enemy  and 
the  groans  of  his  dying  friends.  At  length  he  was  told  that 
the  man  at  his  side  had  fallen,  whereupon  he  instantly 
jumped  up  and  rushed  out,  stumbling  over  the  tent-ropes  in 
his  violent  effort  to  escape. 

Notwithstanding  our  dreams  are  often  wholly  incompati- 
ble with  the  ideas  we  are  accustomed  to  entertain  when 
awake,  still  in  many  instances  they  appear  to  be  determined 
or  strongly  influenced  by  our  established  opinions  and  hab- 
its of  thought.  Especially  those  who  have  firm  convictions 
— in  whom  the  force  of  education  and  tlie  normal  action  of 
the  mind  are  intense  and  strong — are  liable  to  be  so  influ- 
enced. We  sometimes  dream  of  contending  earnestly  for 
our  most  cherished  principles  and  ideas.  If  tlie  man  of  un- 
yielding  virtue  is  exposed  to  great  temptations  in  his  dreams, 
the  expression  of  his  feelings  may  be  governed  by  a nic^ 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


331 


sense  of  propriety,  and  liis  ideal  acts  be  in  consonance  with 
the  sober  dictates  of  reason  and  conscience.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  man  of  weak  resolution  and  lose  liabits  is  not 
likely  to  es’en  dream  of  resisting  temptation.’ 

Forms  and  substances  on  which  others  have  left  the  sub- 
tile emanations  from  their  bodies,  are  not  unfrequently  in- 
strumental in  determining  the  operations  of  tlie  mind  in 
sleep.  In  another  part  of  this  treatise  the  reader’s  attention 
has  been  called  to  several  convincing  illustrations  of  the 
fact,  that  an  impalpable  effluence  proceeds  from  the  mind 
and  body,  and  that  it  pervades  all  objects  that  we  have  han- 
dled and  every  expression  of  our  thoughts.  This  may  be 
denominated  psychometric  dreaming.  The  illustrations  of 
this  class  are  very  curious  and  suggestive.  Through  these 
emanations  persons  sleeping  in  the  same  bed,  especially  if 
they  touch  each  other,  are  liable  to  have  a commerce  of  ideas, 
or  similar  dreams,  and  occasionally  the  operations  of  two 
minds,  thus  related,  have  been  identical  both  in  fact  and 
time.  Of  this  general  class  of  dreams  two  illustrative  ex- 
amples may  be  sufficient. 

The  following  singular  case  of  psychometric  dreaming  is 
stated  on  the  authority  of  a respectable  physician  who  re- 
sides in  Brooklyn,  ^ew  York.  In  the  winter  of  18 — a fatal 
accident  occurred  on  the  Schuylkill  river,  near  Philadelphia. 


1 The  inflaence  of  scientific  pursuits  and  established  ideas  on  the  mind  in 
sleep,  is  illuslTated  by  a humorous  anecdote  that  is  related  of  Cuvier.  The 
great  naturalist  dreamed  one  night  that  the  devil  came  to  him  in  form  as 
he  is  represented  in  the  popular  superstition,  and  threatened  to  eat  him  up. 
Cuvier  calmly  surveyed  the  strange  cloven-footed  beast  from  head  to  foot, 
and  then  exclaimed,  “ You,  eat  me  ! Homs  ! Hoofs ! — Graminivorous  ! I 
am  not  afraid  of  you.” 


21 


332 


MAN  AND  HIS  R ILLATIONS. 


To  vary  the  amusements  of  the  multitude  that  daily  went  to 
the  River  for  exercise  and  recreation,  a post  had  been  set 
up  through  the  ice.  Attached  by  a pivot  and  a socket  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  perpendicular  post  was  a horizontal 
revolving  shaft,  to  the  opposite  end  of  which  a large  sled 
was  fastened  by  a rope.  The  shaft  could  be  made  to  rotate 
so  that  the  persons  on  the  sled  were  moved  round  in  a circle, 
and  with  great  rapidity.  One  day,  while  a negro  occupied 
the  sled,  it  was  made  to  revolve  with  such  velocity  that  he 
was  hurled  headlong  from  his  seat  by  the  centrifugal  force 
against  fragments  of  ice — abruptly  piled  up  by  the  currents 
— and  instantly  killed  ! 

Among  the  persons  who  witnessed  the  accident  was  a 
physician  who,  the  same  evening,  had  occasion  to  prepare 
some  pills  for  a lady  of  very  delicate  organization,  and 
withal  exquisitely  susceptible  of  the  magnetic  influence. 
Several  persons  were  in  his  office  while  he  was  employed  in 
compounding  the  medicine,  to  whom  he  related  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  accident  on  the  river  ; at  the  same  time 
he  was  shaping  the  pills  in  his  fingers.  The  Doctor  sent  the 
pills  to  his  patient,  who  took  them  on  retiring  for  the  night. 
The  lady  had  no  knowledge  of  the  accident,  but  on  falling 
asleep,  had  3n  unusually  vivid  dream,  which  slie  related  on 
the  following  morning.  She  was  on  the  ice,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a great  company  of  persons,  who  were  amusing 
themselves  on  skates,  and  otherwise.  In  tlie  crowd  she  ob- 
served a negro  seating  himself  on  tlie  revolving  sled  ; and 
she  declared  that  he  was  instantly  killed  by  being  thrown 
with  great  violence  against  a cake  of  ice. 

The  philosopliical  mind  will  not  be  tlie  first  to  dispute 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


333 


this  curious  fact.  It  is  well  known  that  the  processes  of 
vegetable  and  animal  chemistry  develop  new  properties  in 
matter  and  prepare  the  simple  elements  for  superior  func- 
tions and  uses.  The  more  frequently  they  are  made  to  as- 
sume organic  forms  and  relations  the  more  sublimated  they 
become,  and  the  higher  is  the  degree  of  their  manifest  vital- 
ity. It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  triturations  and 
chemical  combinations  of  the  laboratory  greatly  modify  the 
substances  employed  in  our  Materia  Medica.  Moreover,  it 
is  manifest  to  the  critical  observer,  that  the  operation  of  any 
remedial  agent  is  liable  to  be  influenced  by  the  manipula- 
tions of  the  person  who  prepares  and  administers  the  same, 
and  that,  too,  in  a degree  that  far  transcends  the  conception 
of  the  ordinary  practitioner.  A glass  of  water  from  th^ 
hand  of  a skillful  magnetiser  may  operate  on  a sensitive  per- 
son, either  as  an  emetic,  cathartic,  tonic  or  soporific.  In  a 
similar  manner  we  are  liable  to  modify — whether  consciously 
or  otherwise — the  active  properties  of  matter  and  the  condi- 
tions of  all  the  forms  of  sentient  existence  with  which  we 
may  chance  to  sustain  intimate  relations.  If  the  mercury 
marks  every  change  in  the  temperature,  and  tlie  needle  of  a 
delicate  electrometer  is  moved  by  the  slightest  galvanic  cur- 
rent, why  may  not  the  mind  feel  the  action  of  mental  forces, 
when  a suitable  connecting  medium  is  placed  in  direct  con- 
tact with  the  most  delicate  nerves  of  sensation  ? 

On  one  occasion,  having  at  a late  hour  received  a written 
message  from  a near  relative,  for  whom  I cherished  a very 
strong  and  tender  attachment,  I retired  with  the  open  letter 
in  my  hand.  I soon  fell  asleep  and  had  a dream,  in  which 
that  person  was  most  strikingly  portrayed  and  extremelj’’ 


334 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


active.  On  waking  I felt  assured  that  there  was  some  sub- 
tile connecting  agent  between  the  letter  and  the  dream.  I 
was  still  in  physical  contact  with  the  paper,  and  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  dynamics  of  mysterious  agents  appeared  to  jus- 
tify the  conclusion,  that  the  impalpable  emanations  from  the 
mind  of  my  correspondent — imparted  to  me  through  the 
medium  of  his  letter — had  suggested  or  inspired  the  concur- 
rent operations  of  my  own  mind.  Desiring  to  render  the 
experiment  as  conclusive  as  the  nature  of  the  case  would 
admit,  I placed  the  open  sheet  on  the  pillow,  and  resting 
my  head  on  the  same,  once  more  fell  asleep  arid  again 
dreamed  of  the  author  of  the  communication,  who  appeared 
with  sucli  preternatural  vividness  as  to  awaken  a deep  sense 
of  the  reality  of  his  presence. 

The  mind  wanders  in  sleep,  and  by  a mysterious  power 
of  cognition  often  perceives  distant  objects  and  occurren- 
ces, or  discovers  its  lost  treasures  and  absent  friends.  An 
object  that  we  have  once  possessed — if  mislaid,  lost  or 
stolen — is  far  more  likely  to  be  found,  by  the  clairvoyant'  or 
the  ordinary  dreamer,  than  one  that  has  never  been  in  our 
hands.  We  establish  a kind  of  magnetic  rapport  with  every- 
thing we  touch,  and  that  serves  to  connect  the  mind  with 
the  object.  By  a kind  of  instinct  the  dreamer  sometimes 
traces  the  obscure  connections  between  himself  and  his  lost 
possessions,  or,  in  obedience  to  a species  of  spiritual  gravi- 
tation, he  may  find  the  remote  but  well-rernernbered  objects 
of  his  love. 

A case  of  truthful  dreaming,  involving  tlie  recovery  of  a 
treasure,  was  originally  published  in  the  Los  Angelos  Star, 
in  the  Spring  of  1854.  Colonel  Reese  and  his  train  had, 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


335 


among  other  misfortunes,  lost  a considerable  sum  of  money, 
but  precisely  how  or  where  could  not  be  determined  by  any 
member  of  his  party.  On  arriving  at  San  Bernardino,  Col. 
R.  had  a dream,  in  which  the  locality  of  the  money  was  so 
vividly  impressed  on  his  mind,  that  he  resolved  to  go  back 
and  find  it.  Some  days  after,  Reese  and  his  company  re- 
turned to  San  Bernardino,  having  visited  the  spot  indicated 
in  the  Colonel’s  dream,  where  they  found  the  entire  sum  of 
money  in  a buckskin  bag. 

Some  years  since  the  Highland  Eagle  of  Westchester 
County,  New  York,  published  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dykeman, 
Deputy  Sheriff  of  Putnam  County,  had  made  a singular  dis- 
covery in  a dream.  It  was  stated  that  George  F.  Sherman, 
of  Cold  Spring,  had  lost  his  pocket-book,  containing  three 
hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars.  On  the  night  following 
the  Deputy  Sheriff  dreamed  that  a clerk  by  the  name  of 
McNary  had  the  money.  Unable  to  resist  the  suspicion 
excited  in  his  mind,  Mr.  Dykeman  arrested  McNary,  who 
thereupon  made  a confession,  and  restored  over  three  hun- 
dred dollars  of  the  money,  which  he  had  concealed  in  places 
indicated  in  the  dream. 

General  Stephen  Rowe  Bradley,  formerly  of  Westmin- 
ster, Vermont,  a distinguished  lawyer,  and  Senator  in  Con- 
gress from  that  State,  being  absent  from  home  at  a distance 
of  one  hundred  miles,  dreamed  that  his  son  was  drowned. 
The  General  was  a man  of  firm  nerves  and  rational  judg- 
ment, and  not  at  all  likely  to  be  influenced  by  superstitious 
notions  ; but  so  intense  and  profound  was  the  impression 
made  on  his  mind,  that  he  immediately  started  for  home. 
On  his  arrival  he  found  the  funeral  procession  just  leaving 


336 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  house,  bearing  to  the  grave  what  was  mortal  of  his  son. 

In  this  part  of  my  classification  I will  only  offer  one  addi- 
tional example.  The  following  account  of  a remarkable  case 
of  reliable  dreaming,  comprehending  all  the  particulars  of  a 
tragic  scene  that  was  enacted  in  California,  on  the  6th  of 
December,  1854,  originally  appeared  in  tlie  editorial  columns 
of  the  Cincinnati  Times.  The  subject  of  this  singular  expe- 
rience was  a young  married  lady  in  that  city — wife  of  a 
merchant  doing  business  on  Main  street — and  it  should  be 
observed  that  her  dream  and  the  actual  occurrence  were 
simultaneous : 

She  dreamed  of  seeing  her  brother,  who  in  1852  left  home  to  brave  the 
hardships  of  a life  in  California,  that  he  might  secure  a competence  for  him- 
self and  his  sister,  She  saw  him  rise  from  a bed,  in  a small  hut-like  tene- 
ment, and  running  his  hand  under  the  pillow,  draw  from  thence  a revolver 
and  a huge  bowie-knife,  both  of  which  he  placed  in  a belt  that  encircled  his 
body.  The  time  was  not  far  from  midnight,  for  the  embers  were  yet  smok- 
ing on  the  rude  hearth  5 and  as  they  cast  their  lurid  glare  over  his  counte- 
nance, she  thought  that  perhaps  it  was  all  a dream  5 but  then  she  concluded 
that  no  dream  could  be  so  real,  and  became  convinced  that  all  was  actual. 

While  she  gazed  on  his  countenance,  the  expression  suddenly  changed  — 
It  betrayed  an  intense  watchfulness  ; all  motion  seemed  suspended,  and 
every  heart  throb  muffled,  while  the  eye  was  fixed  on  a particular  spot  near 
^ the  head  of  the  bed,  where — through  a small  aperture  not  noticed  before — a 

/ 1 (f  ‘ human  hand  was  visible,  grasping  a short,  keen  instrument,  looking  terribly 

like  a dagger.  It  apparently  sought  the  head  of  the  bed,  for  as  it  touched 
the  pillow  it  passed  slowly  down  to  about  the  supposed  region  of  the  heart, 

. and  poised  for  a second,  as  if  to  make  sure  its  aim.  That  second  was  suffi- 

cient for  the  brother  to  rise  noiselessly  from  his  seat,  draw  his  bowie-knife 
from  his  belt,  and  advance  a single  step  toward  the  bed.  Just  as  the  dagger 
descended  into  the  blankets,  the  knife  of  the  brother  came  down  like  a 
meat-axe,  close  to  the  aperture,  completely  severing  the  hand  of  the  would- 
be  assassin  above  the  wrist,  and  causing  the  dagger  and  limb  to  fall  on  the 
bed,  trophies  of  his  victory.  A deep,  prolonged  yell  sounded  from  without, 
and  on  rushing  to  the  aperture  and  convincing  himself  that  there  was  but 
one,  the  brother  unbolted  the  door  and  stepped  out  The  moon  was  shining, 
and  by  its  light  was  discovered  a man  writhing  as  if  in  the  last  agonies. 

The  miner  drew  the  body  to  the  door,  and  turning  his  face  to  the  fire, 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


337 


boliekl  the  visage  of  a Mexican  who,  for  Fome  fanc’ed  injury,  had  sworn  to 
never  rest  content  until  he  had  taken  his  (the  brother’s)  life.  On  examining 
the  man  closely,  he  was  discovered  to  have  a wound  near  the  heart,  which 
a long,  sharp,  two-edged  blade  in  his  left  band  abundantly  accounted  for. 
Failing  in  the  attempt  to  assassinate  his  intended  victim,  he  had,  with  his 
only  remaining  hand,  driven  another  knife  to  his  own  heart.  The  lady 
awoke,  and,  vividly  impressed  with  the  dreani,  related  its  substance  to  her 
husband,  as  it  is  hare  recorded.  Judge,  then,  of  their  surprise  when,  not 
long  afci  r,  they  received  a letter  from  their  brother  in  California  (by  the 
North  Star),  relating  an  adventure  that  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  sixth 
of  D 'cember,  corresponding  in  all  its  particulars  with  the  scene  witnessed 
by  the  lady  in  her  dream. 

The  foresToino:  illustrations  clearly  indicate  that  the  soul 
is  not  necessarily  confined  by  its  corporeal  restraints  to  any 
specific  locality  ; but  that  it  is  free  to  traverse  the  world, 
and  tliat  distance  can  oppose  no  obstacle  to  its  free  commu- 
nion witli  all  kindred  natures.  The  facts  of  this  class  are 
very  numerous,  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  examples. 
In  the  hours  of  sleep  we  often  visit  distant  places,  and  the 
scenes  that  pass  before  the  inward  vision  have  at  once  the 
semblance  and  the  substance  of  reality.  Indeed,  in  some 
essential  sense,  the  soul  Imves  the  body,  and  makes  excur- 
sions into  remote  regions ; and  in  many  cases  our  dreams, 
no  less  than  the  mental  impressions  of  our  waking  life,  are 
found  to  be  faithful  representations  of  actual  circumstances 
and  events. 

Many  dreams  are  doubtless  to  be  attributed  to  the  con- 
tinued activity  of  a particular  class  of  faculties,  after  the 
action  of  others  has  been  temporarily  suspended  by  sleep. 
All  allegorical  dreams  and  visions  may  be — perhaps  gene- 
rally— embraced  in  this  category.  If  we  suppose  Ideality 
and  Comparison  to  be  unusually  large,  and  the  moi'al  and 
perceptive  faculties  of  the  sleeper  to  be  extremely  active, 


338 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


it  may  not  be  difficult  to  account  for  many  allegorical  repre- 
sentations in  dreams.  It  is  well  known  that  the  dominant 
faculties  are  the  last  to  yield  to  the  magnetism  of  sleep.  In 
such  an  organization  as  I have  supposed,  the  imagination, 
or  creative  power  of  tlie  mind,  being  still  awake,  continues 
to  form  its  images  in  the  cerebral  camera,  and  those  images, 
by  the  cooperation  of  the  moral  sentiments,  are  made  to 
assume  relations  to  certain  ideas,  principles,  ‘objects  and 
events.  By  a law  of  nature  and  our  moral  constitution,  we 
associate  particular  qualities  and  characteristics  with  cer- 
tain forms,  and  those  forms  often  become  the  universally 
recognized  symbols  of  moral  and  other  qualities.  By  com- 
mon consent  deception  is  represented  by  the  sei-pent,  fidelity 
by  the  dog,  innocence  by  the  lamb,  and  peace  by  the  dove. 
We  also  recognize  similar  relations  of  particular  ideas  and 
individual  attributes  to  inanimate  objects  and  their  uses. 
The  strong  mind  that  demolishes  the  theories  and  systems 
of  ages  may  be  likened  to  a battering  ram ; a clumsy  critic, 
or  a stupid,  careless  fellow,  is  called  a blunderbus ; whilst 
a rapier  is  the  polished  and  pointed  symbol  of  caustic  wit 
and  pungent  satire.  The  mind  of  the  sleeper  may  continue 
to  recognize  these  relations  of  special  qualities  and  abstract 
ideas  to  specific  forms  and  individual  characters,  and  hence 
the  development  of  tliis  class  of  dreams. 

Tliree  illustrative  examples  will  suffice  in  this  connection. 
A friend,  who  is  a critical  and  able  writer,  liaving  been 
vehemently  opposed  and  falsely  accused  by  certain  jiarties — 
who  were  too  ignorant  and  groveling  to  either  compreliend 
his  principles  or  to  appreciate  his  character — retired  one 
evening  after  reviewing  the  conduct  of  his  cneinios,  and 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP.  ^^9 

dreamed  that  while  traveling  in  a barren  and  sandy  region 
he  suddenly  encountered  a serpent.  The  reptile  was  large, 
black,  and  seemingly  venomous.  The  dreamer  finding  him- 
self armed  with  a long  whip,  proceeded  to  lash  the  snake 
about  the  head,  which  caused  the  most  violent  and  painful 
contortions,  while  the  monster  vainly  attempted  to  escape. 
Occasionally  the  serpent  would  bury  his  head  in  the  sand  to 
protect  it  from  the  lash  ; but  the  dust  blinded  him,  while 
his  whole  form  writhed  beneath  the  blows  of  the  assailant. 

On  another  occasion  the  same  gentleman,  having  com- 
pleted a just  but  severe  and  scathing  review  of  a certain 
secular  journal,  folded  the  paper  and  laid  it  on  the  table. 
The  same  evening  a lady  of  remarkable  psychological  sus- 
ceptibility— in  whose  mind  ideas  were  commonly  repre- 
sented by  appropriate  symbols — called  on  the  reviewer,  in 
company  with  several  other  persons.  This  lady  had  no 
knoftdedge  of  the  particular  business  that  had  occupied  my 
friend  during  the  day.  In  the  course  of  the  evening,  while 
reposing  in  an  easy  chair,  she  became  somniloquent  and  de- 
dared  that  she  saw  a glittering  two-edged  sword,  drawn  by 
a strong  hand  from  its  scabbard  and  placed  on  the  identical 
table  at  which  the  reviewer  had  performed  his  task,  and 
whereon  he  had  left  his  manuscript. 

The  remaining  example  is  selected  from  the  writer’s  per- 
sonal experience.  Some  time  before  the  commencement  of 
the  Italian  Revolution  under  Garibaldi,  I was  on  one  occa- 
sion seated  in  my  room,  and  in  meditation  on  the  affairs  of 
Europe,  when  I fell  asleep.  A brief  interval  of  oblivious 
repose  was  succeeded  by  a state  of  inward  waking  and  a 
significant  dream  or  vision  The  time  was  early  morning. 


340 


MAN  AxND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


] was  standing  on  high  ground,  commanding  an  extended 
view  of  the  surrounding  country.  On  every  side  objects  of 
classic  beauty  and  impressive  emblems  of  decay  were  visible 
in  the  gray  twilight,  while  over  ail  reigned  the  silence  of 
death.  Moreover,  there  was  a strange  glory  diffused  over 
the  heavens,  irradiating  the  mountain-tops,  while  darkness 
yet  vailed  the  plains  and  valleys  and  every  object  beneath. 

. "Suddenly  a strong  man  appeared  standing  on  an  eminence 
before  me.  His  countenance  was  highly  illuminated  as  if 
the  first  rays  of  a rising  sun  had  fallen  like  a golden  bap- 
tism on  his  head.  Majestic  in  form,  and  with  a bearing 
more  than  kingly,  he  at  once  inspired  me  with  profound  re- 
spect and  admiration.  At  first  his  right  hand  was  on  his 
left  breast,  and  concealed  beneath  the  folds  of  his  mantle. 
But  at  length  he  drew  from  his  bosom  a great  Lens  which 
was  made  to  revolve  at  the  slightest  suggestion  of  his  will, 
and  to  assume  every  conceivable  position  with  respect  to  the 
light  and  the  objects  to  be  illuminated.  I was  informed 
that  the  strong  man  was  G-aribaldi,  and  that  the  great  mov- 
ing Lens  in  his  right  hand  was  Revolution  ! As  the  Lens 
revolved  the  concentrated  rays  shot  arrow-like  through  the 
shades  below,  discovering  in  their  course  the  forms  of  noble 
men  chained  and  prostrate.  But  as  rapidly  as  the  light  was 
diffused  among  them,  their  ehains  fell  asunder  like  untwisted 
flax  when  it  is  touched  by  a burning  brand.  The  number  of 
the  disenthralled  increased  every  moment  until  a vast  multi- 
tude stood  erect  and  rejoicing  in. their  recovered  freedom. 

Again  the  Lens  revolved,  and  the  burning  shaft  fell  in 
thick  darkness,  revealing  a form  clothed  in  faded  and  lilthy 
robes,  and  surrounded  by  the  shattered  symbols  of  regal 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OP  SLEEP. 


341 


authority.  The  form  was  wasted  ; the  tissues  seemed  to  be 
shriveled,  and  the  fluids  dissipated,  as  if  by  the  action  of 
internal  fires.  The  lips  were  compressed  but  tremulous, 
wliile  the  expression  of  the  eye  was  restless  and  malignant. 
The  \isage  revealed  no  trace  of  human  sympatliy.  A dingy 
crown  encircled  the  brow  and  the  right  hand  grasped  a 
broken  scepter.  I was  made  to  know  that  this  figure  was 
the  embodied  representation  of  the  existing  political  and 
spiritual  despotisms.  At  length  the  scorching  rays  were 
brought  to  a focus  on  the  scepter,  which  ignited  and  con- 
sumed away,  the  ashes  falling  over  the  palsied  hand. 

From  his  elevated  situation  the  Genius  of  Revolution 
calmly  witnessed  tlie  spectacle.  Once  more  the  Lens  moved 
in  his  hand,  and  as  the  consuming  rays  played  over  the 
blackened  and  blasted  brow,  the  crown  was  fused  and  ran 
down  the  furrowed  face  like  a scalding  and  bloody  sweat. 
The  form  was  now  fearfully  convulsed ; the  throne  crumbled 
at  its  base,  and  a frightful  spasm  seized  the  solid  ground  on 
which  I was  standing.  The  shock  was  powerful  and  diverted 
my  attention  for  an  instant.  Recovering  from  my  surprise, 
I looked  again,  but  the  smitten  form  and  brokefi^; symbols  of 
despotic  authority  were  visible  no  more.  The  earth  had 
closed  over  them  \^J 

^ Of  this  class  was  the  significant  dream  of  the  great  Athenian  philoso- 
pher. On  the  night  before  he  took  the  deleterious  hemlock  he  slept  calmly, 
and  in  the  morning,  being  attended  by  his  chief  disciples,  he  described  his 
vision  in  this  simple  and  touching  language.  Socrates  proceeded  : 

I saw  a beautiful  youth  come  in  to  me.  On  his  countenance  were  that 
still  composure,  and  calm  sobriety,  which  belong  to  the  form  divine.  In  his 
right  hand  he  bore  a burning  torch,  and  a reddish  glow,  like  that  of  eve- 
ning, was  diffused  over  the  darkness  of  my  prison. 

The  godlike  youth  gradually  let  down  the  torch  ; but  I seized  his  arm,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  and  exclaimed  : What  are  you  going  to  do  ? He  re- 


342 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


A complete  classification  would  include  other  important 
psychological  phenomena  developed  in  sleep.  Dreams  that 
have  led  to  discoveries  in  the  Mechanic  Arts,  and  such  as 
have  resulted  in  contributions  to  popular  literature,  will 
furnish  the  subject  of  the  succeeding  Chapter  ; while  the 
writer’s  suggestions  respecting  prophetic  dreaming  will  be 
presented  in  the  elucidation  of  the  Law  of  Prophecy.  I am 
admonished  that  there  are  yet  other  dreams — ^of  deep  and 
peculiar  import — that  admit  of  no  rational  explanation  on 
any  principles,  either  comprehended  by  the  common  mind 
or  recognized  in  the  systems  of  material  philosophy. 

“ Powers  there  are 

Tliat  touch  each  other  to  the  quick,  in  modes 
Whicli  the  gross  world  no  sense  hath  to  perceive, 

No  soul  to  dream  of 

The  most  subtile  forces  in  Nature  and  the  great  powers 
of  the  moral  world  are  seldom  appreciated.  While  they 
are  irresistible,  they  operate  so  silently  that  they  elude  the 
ordinary  observer.  Indeed,  they  are  frequently  quite  orev- 
looked  by  authors  of  acknowledged  erudition.  Dr.  John 
William  Draper,  in  his  late  work,  while  referring  to  the 
sources  of  Cerebral  action  and  mental  impressions  in  sleep, 
does  not  appear  to  recognize  the  presence  of  any  forces,  or 

plied  : “ I am  extinguishing  the  torch  !”  Oh  ! I entreat,  do  it  not!  It  is 
to  me  a friendly  light  in  the  darkness  of  my  prison. 

He  smiled  and  said  : It  is  the  torch  of  the  earthly  life.  Thou  hast  no 
further  need  of  it.  Por  as  soon  as  it  is  extinguished  thine  earthly  eyes  close 
forever,  and  thou  sparest  aloft  to  a higher  world,  where  a pure  and  heavenly 
light  beams  around  thee.  Of  what  use  to  thee  any  longer  is  the  self-con- 
suming earthly  torch  ? 

The  flame  was  quenched  ; and  the  philosopher,  with  a serene  spirit 
awoke  to  find  himself  overshadowed  by  the  gloom  of  his  prison.  Just  then 
the  door  was  opened,  and  Socrates  welcomed  the  youth  who  boro  the  cup 
which  was  to  extinguish  the  torch  of  Ufe. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


343 


the  active  iiifliierice  of  any  agents,  except  such  as  belong  to 
the  material  creation.  In  the  intellectual  operations  of  the 
sleeper  he  finds  little  more  than  the  fantastic  creations  of 
the  unrestrained  or  distempered  imagination,  and  the  incon- 
gruous association  of  sensorial  images,  originally  derived 
from  the  objects  of  the  external  world.  I extract  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  author’s  “ History  of  the  Intellectual  Devel- 
opment of  Europe 

In  the  brain  of  man,  impressions  of  whatever  he  has  seen  or  heard,  of 
whatever  has  been  made  manifest  to  him  by  his  other  senses,  nay,  even  the 
vestiges  of  his  former  Ihouglits,  are  stored  up.  These  traces  are  most  vivid 
at  first,  but  by  degrees  they  decline  in  force,  though  they  never  probably 
completely  die  out.  During  our  waking  hours,  while  we  are  perpetually 
receiving  new  impressions  from  things  that  surround  us,  such  vestiges  ai’e 
overpowered,  and  can  not  attract  the  attention  of  the  mind.  But  in  the 
period  of  sleep,  when  external  influences  cease,  they  present  themselves  to 
our  regard,  and  the  mind,  submitting  to  the  delusion,  groups  them  into  the 
fantastic  forms  of  dreams.  By  the  use  of  opium  and  other  drugs  which  can 
blunt  our  sensibility  to  passing  events,  these  phantoms  may  be  made  to 
emerge.  They  also  offer  themselves  in  the  delirium  of  fevers  and  in  the 
hour  of  death. 

It  is  immaterial  in  what  manner  or  by  what  agency  our  susceptibility  to 
the  impressions  of  surrounding  objects  is  benumbed,  whether  by  drugs  or 
sleep,  or  disease,  as  soon  as  their  force  is  no  greater  than  that  of  forms 
already  registered  in  the  brain,  these  last  will  emerge  before  us,  and  dreams 
and  apparitions  are  the  result.  So  liable  is  the  mind  to  practice  deception 
on  itself,  that  with  the  utmost  difficulty  it  is  aware  of  the  delusion.  (Pp. 
317-18.) 

The  learned  author  looks  among  the  phenomena  of  sleep 
for  some  shadowy  suggestions  of  the  life  to  come  ; but  only 
finds  in  dreams  and  “ visions  of  the  night,” 

“ Combinations  of  disjointed  things, 

And  forms  impalpable 

Whilst  admitting  the  realities  of  another  world,  his  dis- 
tant fellowship  for  the  celestial  authorities  does  not  permit 


344 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


of  diplomatic  relations  or  the  commerce  of  ideas.  The  in- 
visible/ inspiring  agents  of  the  human  race,  very  generally 
recognized  in  the  past,  by  Pagans,  Jews,  Mohammedans  and 
Christians,  may  have  been  mere  phantoms  and  hallucina- 
tions. If  the  dmmon  of  Socrates  was  not  his  own  “ con- 
science, we  must  infer  that  he  labored  under  a mental 
malady.’’^  In  the  interest  of  popular  materialism  it  is  thus 
presumed,  that  the  noblest  man  and  the  most  celebrated 
philosopher  of  antiquity,  was  so  diseased  in  mind  that  he 
could  not  distinguish  the  promptings  of  his  own  moral 
nature  from  the  foreign  influence  and  distinct  personality  of 
another.  In  consonance  with  such  views  it  is  but  natural 
that  Professor  Draper  should  regard  many  profound  reli- 
gious experiences  as  idle  vagaries  or  strong  delusions. 

Medical  authors,  and  all  whose,  investigations  are  limited 
! to  their  inquiry  into  the  laws  and  operations  of  physical 
nature,  are  liable  to  become  faithless.  They  are  prone  to 
lose  siglit  of  the  obvious  fact,  that  the  human  mind  exists,  at 
' all  times,  in  the  midst  of  a vast  realm,  every  part  of  which  is 
pervaded  by  mental  and  moral  forces,  and  peopled  by  the 
invisible  ministers  of  the  Omnipresent  One.  These  being 
inseparable  from  the  sphere  of  the  soubs  existence,  now  and 
hereafter,  it  follows  that  they  all  influence  the  mind  as  na- 
turally and  inevitably  as  the  body  is  acted  on  by  material 
forms  and  physical  forces.  Immersed  in  this  mental  deep, 
as  in  one  fathomless  and  shoreless  sea,  the  mind  is  never 
beyond  the  influence  of  silent  forces  and  inspiring  agents 
adapted  to  excite  the  faculties.  Those  secret  forces  touch 


1 See  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,  (p.  110.) 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  MYSTERIES  OF  SLEEP. 


345 


tlie  liiddcn  springs  of  our  common  nature,  and  gentle  lieings 
move  around  us, 

‘‘  With  feet  that  make  no  sound  upon  the  floors.” 

Sleep  half  unbars  the  portals  of' that  realm  of  mystery. 
At  death  the  soul  enters  and  leaves  the  door  ajar,  when 
those  wlio  are  near  catch  glimpses  of  the  life  that  is  to  be. 
The  mind  brings  back  some  precious  tokens  of  divine  ideas 
and  visitations,  and  we  feel  that  we  are  haunted  as  by  some 
living  presence.  Nature  inspires  the  soul  through  the  sense. 
The  low  notes  of  the  forest  bird;  the  faint  echoes  of  distant 
water-falls ; the  voices  of  children  in  the  vespers ; the  soft 
murmurs  of  the  shells  along  the  strand,  and  the  tremulous 
accents  of  first  love — these,  indeed,  are  all  sweetly  solemn 
and  strangely  pleasing.  But  Genius  and  Nature  offer  no 
suggestions  that  are  more  significant  and  beautiful  than  such 
as  come  to  the  innocent  in  Sleep. 

“ Such  is  the  country,  over  whose  existence 

The  brooding  shades  of  mortal  doubt  are  cast ; 

Such  is  the  realm  that,  dim  with  night  and  distance, 

Lies  unexplored  and  vast. 

“ But  when  the  Morning  comes  the  spell  is  broken, 

^ And  like  a dream  the  wondrous  record  seems  ; 

And  memory  holds  the  solitary  token 
Of  the  dim  land  of  dreams.” 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 

The  Mental  Faculties  in  Sleep — Illustrations  of  their  concentrated  and  or- 
derly action — Curious  Discoveries  in  Dream-Land — Cases  of  Mary  Lyall 
and  Cornelius  Broomer — Experiences  of  De  Quincey  and  Macnish — A 
rapid  Voyage  to  India — An  hour  among  the  Pyramids  of  the  Nile — Me- 
chanical Inventions — Experiences  of  Dr.  Franklin  and  Professor  Gregory 
— Sermonizing  in  Sleep — A Legal  Opinion  by  a Dreamer — Production  of 
a Parody  on  Piron — Schonemann’s  Improvisations — Fragments  from  the 
Temple  of  the  Muses — Tartini  and  the  Devil’s  Sonata — Philosophical  Sug- 
gestions and  Conclusion. 

“ Pay  rules  the  sensuous  mind, 

But  Night  the  fettered  spirit  doth  unbind. 

And  through  the  silver  palace-gates  of  Ijight, 

In  dream  and  trance,  she  leads  the  soul  away 
To  the  wide  landi-capes  of  the  inner  Day  ” — Harris. 

Mental  faculties,  not  less  than  physical  forces,  may  be 
strengthened  by  concentration.  To  produce  tlie  most 
decisive  results  they  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  wide  realm 
of  outward  observation  and  thought,  and  directed  in  a single 
channel  and  to  a particular  subject.  When  tlie  mind  is  oc- 
cupied with  many  tilings  at  the  same  time,  its  forces  are  of 
necessity  widely  diffused  ; and  this  dissipation  of  the  mental 
energies  renders  their  action  feeble  ; at  the  same  time  great 
ideas  and  living  thoughts  are  conceived,  individualized,  and 
illuminated  in  the  foci  of  the  mind.  Whatever,  therefore, 
serves  to  concentrate  the  faculties  and  give  them  a specific 


INSPIRATIOXS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 


347 


direction,  also  intensifies  tlieir  action,  and  tluis  renders  the 
forms  of  their  outward  expression — whether  in  the  parts  of 
speech  or  the  works  of  art — more  forcible  and  complete. 

This  mental  concentration  is  very  liable  to  occur  in  sleep, 
when  only  a part  of  tlie  faculties  find  repose,  and  our  slum- 
bers are 

But  a contiiiuauce  of  enduring  thought.” 

The  more  active  powers  of  the  mind  are  especially  liable  to 
be  thus  wakeful,  while  the  others  may  be  entirely  inactive. 
Moreover,  their  operations  are  frequently  direct,  forcible 
and  orderly  in  an  eminent  degree.  This-  convergence  of 
mental  forces  has  developed  some  surprising  results,  and  the 
subject  might  be  illustrated  by  striking  examples  derived 
from  the  experience  of  many  persons.  Men  of  genius  are 
occasionally  inspired  in  dreams,  and  original  conceptions 
take  form  before  the  inward  vision,  or  they  may  be  embod- 
ied in  appi'opriate  language  and  imagery.  Several  literary 
compositions;  also  works  belonging  to  the  departments  of 
Mechanical  Invention  and  the  Elegant  Arts,  have  surely 
originated  in  this  way,  without  any  previous  thought  or 
conscious  effort  on  the  part  of  the  sleeper.  ^ 

• When  the_  external  avenues  of  sensation  are  closed',  and 
the  mind  is  measurably  released  from  corporeal  restraints, 
it  readily  associates  with  the  homogeneous  elements  in  all 
things.  If,  in  the  waking  condition,  it  holds  direct  relations 
to  external  objects  and  physical  phenomena,  it  may,  in  sleep, 
be  no  less  intimately  associated  with  their  interior  princi- 
ples and  essential  laws.  Thus  our  dual  nature  and  corres- 
ponding two-fold  life  alternately  bring  us,  in  some  manner, 
into  correspondence  with  the  visible  and  invisible  realms  of 

22 


348 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


being.  The  periodical  introversion  of  tlie  faculties,  which 
occurs  at  night — in  the  seasons  of  slumber — and  the  sha- 
dowy suggestions  of  our  microcosrnical  existence,  all  point 
to  a sphere  of  inward  realities  ; and  they  lead  the  rational 
soul  to  the  contemplation  of  a far  more  glorious  World  than 
the  great  Macrocosm  that  stands  revealed  to  our  organic 
perceptions  in  the  clear  light  of  day. 

A dream  consists  of  an  indefinite  succession  of  thoughts, 
occurring  in  immediate  connection,  and  during  the  hours  of 
sleep  ; tliough  we  very  naturally  limit  the  application  of  the 
term  to  such  acts  or  operations  of  the  mind  as  accupy  a 
place  and  preserve  their  relations  in  the  waking  memory. 
A vision  is  a dream  in  which  the  sense  of  sight  is  excited  by 
the  mind’s  action,  or  otherwise  by  subjective  causes  ; so  ' 
that,  by  its  cooperation,  it  embodies  and  represents  the  im- 
ages of  whatever  is  comprehended  in  the  mental  conception 
and  process.  In  sleep  the  soul  may  wander  abroad,  free 
from  the  physical  restraints  it  is  accustomed  to  recognize  in 
the  waking  life  ; and  the  occurrence  of  circumstances  and 
events  which  Reason  would  regard  as  utterly  impossible, 
seldom  excite  the  least  as.tonishment  in  the  mind  of  the 
dreamer.  Time  and  space  are  annihilated,  and  remote  per- 
iods and  distant  objects  appear  to  bo  present.  If  one  could 
sleep  for  months  or  years,  without  interruption,  he  would 
not,  on  waking,  be  able  to  form  any  proper  conception  of 
the  lapse  of  time. 

The  facts  that  illustrate  the  particular  theme  of  this 
Chapter  are  curious  and  diversified.  Mary  Lyall  slepty/i’c 
ti'ceks,  and  on  being  restored  to  a state  of  normal  conscious- 
ness, supposed  that  her  profound  slumber  had  been  limited'. 


INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 


340 


to  a single  night.'  The  case  of  Cornelius  Broomer,  son  of 
a farmer  in  Genesee  County,  N".  Y.,  was  still  more  remark- 
able. He  fell  into  a cataleptic  sleep,  which  continued — 
with  occasional  interruptions  at  irregular  intervals — during 
a period  of  several  years.  When  his  normal  consciousness 
and  the  voluntary  functions  of  his  body  were  restored,  after 
an  uninterrupted  slumber  of  four  months,  he  had  no  con- 
ception of  the  lapse  of  time.  The  fact  that  we  often  make 
long  and  laborious  journeys  in  one  hour,  and  have  a con- 
scious experience,  varied  by  all  the  thrilling  realities  of 
pleasure  and  pain — apparently  requiring  several  days  or 
weeks  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  whole  train  of  events 
—is  not  less  significant  in  its  bearing  on  this  point. 

In  sleep,  all  our  ideas  respecting  the  relations  of  events 
and  objects  to  the  circumstances  of  time  and  space,  are  ut- 
terly disregarded. 2 He  Quincey  saw  objects  immensely  en- 
larged and  otherwise  exaggerated  in  his  dreams.  Estimat- 
ing time  by  the  number  of  sensorial  changes  or  mental  im- 
pressions, and  the  vastness  of  his  experience  while  under  the 
influence  of  opium,  he  occasionally  felt  that  he  had  lived  a 
century  between  sunset  and  dawn.  Dr.  Abercrombie  refers 
to  a friend  who,  in  a dream,  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  spent 
tivo  iveeks  in  America.  On  reembarking  he  accidentally 
fell  into  the  sea,  when  he  awoke  and  found  that  he  had  only 
been  in  bed  ten  minutes ! Macnish,  in  his  work  on  Sleep, 
assures  us  that  he  made  a voyage  to  India,  spending  several 

^ For  au  authentic  statement  of  this  case,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
Eighth  Volume  of  the  “ Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.’’ 

2 The  involuntary  character  of  our  dreams  led  Mr.  Baxter  to  ascribe  them 
to  the  immediate  presence  and  direct  influence  of  separate  spirits. — DitgaLd 
Stewart’s  “ Fkilosophy  of  the  Human  MineV’ — p.  293. 


350 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


days  in  Calcutta  ; that  he  subsequently  continued  his  jour- 
ney to  Egypt,  visiting  the  cataracts  and  pyramids  of  the 
Nile  ; and,  moreover,  that  he  had  confidential  interviews 
with  Mehemet  Ali,  Cleopatra  and  Saladin,  The  whole  of 
this  remarkable  experience  — though  it  appeared  to  the 
dreamer  to  extend  through  a period  of  many  months,  may 
possibly  have  occupied  a single  hour.  These  facts  plainly 
indicate  that  the  mind,  in  sleep,  sustains  no  arbitrary  or 
fixed  relations,  either  to  time  or  space  ; and  hence,  in  at- 
tempting to  solve  the  problem  involved  in  such  dreams,  we 
must  not  conceive  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind  as  being  sub- 
ject to  mundane  laws  and  limitations. 

A distinguished  inventor  informed  the  writer  that  all  his 
discoveries — involving  the  application  of  mechanical  laws  to 
the  construction  of  machinery — were  made  in  dreams.  An- 
other mechanic,  whose  business  it  was  to  exercise  a constant 
supervision  over  the  machinery  of  a large  factory,  was  at 
one  time  annoyed  by  the  irregular  motion  of  a machine  used 
in  shearing  cloth.  Several  pieces  of  goods  were  damaged  ; 
and  yet,  after  repeated  examinations  of  every  part  of  the 
machine — separately  and  in  the  relations  of  each  to  the 
whole — lie  could  discover  no  cause  for  the  irregularity  of 
the  movement.  After  spending  three  or  four  days  in  fruit- 
less attempts  to  detect  the  cause  of  tlie  miscliief,  lie  one  night 
retired,  discouraged  and  mortified  in  view  of  his  seeming  in- 
ability to  discharge  the  duties  of  tlie  place  assigned  him. 
In  the  course  of  the  night  he  had  a dream  that  disclosed  tlie 
whole  secret,  and  on  the  following  morning  he  was  enabled 
to  obviate  the  difficulty  in  fifteen  minutes  I' 

1 The  Courier  de  V Europe  mentions  the  fiict  that  Coelius  RhodizLnus,  when 


INSPIRATIONS  OP  THE  NIGHT. 


351 


The  facts  in  the  case  of  a little  girl — who  displayed  re- 
markable originality  and  skill  in  embroidery — were  recently 
communicated  to  the  writer.  She  obtained  all  her  patterns 
while  asleep.  The  designs  were  various,  unique  and  beauti- 
ful, and  their  execution  remarkably  perfect.  Moreover,  the 
mother  of  the  child  confirmed  the  statement  that  they  were 
drawn  from  archetypal  forms  or  images  presented  to  the 
mind  and  impressed  on  the  memory  in  dreams.' 

A correspondent  of  the  United  States  Gazette  some  time 
since  gave  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  mode  of 
making  round  shot  was  originally  discovered.  It  is  alleged 
that  the  mind  of  a plumber  was  long  and  severely  exercised 
on  the  subject,  but  without  his  accomplishing  any  valuable 
practical  result.  One  night  he  was  suddenly  awakened  by 
a blow  from  his  wife,  who  assured  him  that  slie  “ had  found 
out  how  to  make  round  shot.”  She  dreamed  of  going  into 
a shop  to  purchase  a hat  for  her  child,  and  whilst  there  made 
the  discovery.  Hearing  a hissing  sound,  which  seemed  to 
. proceed  from  an  inner  room,  she  inquired  the  cause,  and 
was  informed  that  they  were  making  round  shot.  On  look- 
ing up  she  saw  a man  pouring  melted  lead  through  a sieve 
from  the  top  of  the  building,  which  fell  into  a tub  of  water 

laboring  to  correct  the  text  of  Pliny,  which  be  is  said  to  have  obscured,  was 
puzzled  by  a single  word.  He  toiled  a whole  week  in  vain  to  ascertain 
the  meaning.  At  length,  wearied  by  his  exertions,  he  fell  asleep  and  ob- 
tained the  solution  in  a dream. 

1 Addison,  in  speaking  of  the  inventive  powers  of  the  mind  in  sleep,  says  : 
“ There  is  not  a more  painful  action  of  the  mind  than  invention  5 yet  in 
dreams  it  works  with  such  ease  and  activity,  that  we  are  not  sensible  when 
the  faculty  is  employed.  For  instance,  I believe  every  one,  some  time  or 
other,  dreams  that  he  is  reading  papers,  books  or  letters  ; in  which  case 
the  invention  prompts  so  readily,  that  the  mind  is  imposed  on,  and  mistakes 
its  own  suggestions  for  the  composition  of  another.” 


352 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


on  the  floor  ; and  on  examination  she  found  the  tub  con- 
tained shot  that  were  perfectly  round.  At  an  early  hour 
the  next  morning  the  plumber  commenced  his  experiments 
by  pouring  the  melted  lead  from  the  top  of  the  stairs.  The 
result  satisfied  him  that  the  'suggestions  of  his  wife’s  dream 
were  highly  important,  and  that  he  was  about  to  accomplish 
his  object.  He  then  fused  some  lead  and  poured  it  from  the 
top  of  the  highest  tower  in  the  city,  with  still  better  results. 
Finally,  he  went  to  a mine  in  the  neighborhood,  and  pouring 
the  melted  metal  down  a perpendicular  shaft,  he  was  de- 
lighted to  find  that  he  produced  round  shot.j 

Grave  and  profound  questions  have  been  mysteriously  an- 
swered in  the  mind  of  the  dreamer  ; and  the  records  of  Psy- 
chology furnish  illustrations  of  scientific  instruction,  legal 
wisdom  and  literary  composition,  resulting  from  the  orderly 
exercises  of  the  mind  in  sleep.  It  is  alleged  that  Dr.  Frank- 
lin obtained  a solution,  of  certain  political  problems  in  his 
dreams,  and  that  impending  events  were  foreshadowed  in  a 
similar  manner.  The  late  Dr.  Gregory,  Professor  of  Elec- 
tricity and  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  often 
obtained  important  ideas,  scientific  illustrations,  and  even 
particular  forms  of  expf'ession  in  his  dreams,  which  were 
subsequently  used  in  his  lectures,  before  the  classes  in  the 
University,  and  in  his  published  works.^ 

Abercrombie  mentions  the  case  of  an  eminent  lawyer  who 

^ The  late  Rev.  Menzes  Rayner— formerly  and  for  many  years  a re.-pected 
and  able  minister  in  the  Episcopal  and  Universalist  Churches — was  on  one 
occasion  inspired  with  a complete  sermon  in  a dream.  In  the  morning  the 
entire  discourse  was  vividly  impressed  on  his  mind,  and  without  any  men- 
tal effort  the  mechanical  labor  of  Transcription  was  speedily  performed. 
Mr.  R.  assured  the  writer  that  he  had  preached  that  sermon  in  many  places, 
and  that  it  was  everywhere  regarded  as  one  of  his  best  efforts. 


INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 


353 


belonged  to  a distinguislied  family  in  Scotland.  For  seve- 
ral days  he  had  been  constantly  occcupicd  with  a very  in- 
tricate case  of  great  importance.  One  night  he  left  his  bed 
and  seating  himself  at  a desk  in  his  sleeping  apartment,  he 
commenced  writing.  His  wife,  who  was  a silent  spectator 
of  his  movements,  observed  that  he  prepared  a long  paper 
which  he  deposited  in  the  desk,  and  then  returned  to  bed. 
The  next  morning  he  related  to  his  wife  what  he  remem- 
bered of  his  nocturnal  experience.  He  dreamed  of  preparing 
a very  lucid  and  masterly  legal  opinion  in  the  case  which 
had  so  engrossed  and  perplexed  his  mind,  and  lamented  that 
he  could  not  recover  the  train  of  thought,  which  had  only 
left  obscure  images  in  his  memory.  His  wife  thereupon  di- 
rected him  to  the  desk,  where  he  found  his  opinion  written 
out  in  line  style  and  with  surpassing  accuracy.^  The  same 
author  refers  to  a literary  gentleman  in  Edinburgh,  who,  in 
a dream,  composed  a facetious  parody  on  an  epigram  by 
Piron,  which  the  latter  had  perpetrated  at  the  expense  of 
the  French  Academy.  Yon  Hennings  also  mentions  the 
improvisations  of  Schonemann.  He  was  but  a poor  poet 
when  awake,  but  in  a natural  sleep  often  extemporized  very 
fine  verses,  on  themes  furnished  by  his  friends  ; the  manner 
of  their  utterance  being  deeply  impressive.  Schonemann’s 
poems  never  occupied  a place  in  the  waking  memory  of  the 
ostensible  author  ; but  they  were  in  part  preserved  by  an 
amanuensis,  and  are  extant  in  the  German  language.^ 

Khubla  Khan,  by  Coleridge,  is  an  exquisite  fragment  of 
a dream.  The  poet  being  in  ill  health,  had  retired  to  a 

^ “ Inquiries  Concerning  the  Intellectual  Powers.’^  etc. 

2 See  “ Dreams  and  Somnambulism,”  p.  509. 


354 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


quiet  place  not  far  from  Devonshire.  While  under  the  in- 
fluence of  an  anodyne— which  the  nature  of  his  indisposition 
had  I'cndered  necessary — his  waking  consciousness  was  gra- 
dually suspended,  and  in  a tranquil  siesta  hfs  brain  gave  a 
graceful  form  and  becoming  drapery  to  the  beautiful  con- 
ception. Macnish,  in  his  “ Philosophy  of  Sleep, also  men- 
tions the  fact  that  Tartini,  a celebrated  violinist,  once 
dreamed  that  the  Devil  came  to  him  and  challenged  him  to 
a trial  of  skill  on  his  favorite  instrument.  The  inspiration 
that  immediately  followed  the  proposal  resulted  in  the  pro- 
duction of  his  remarkable  musical  composition,  entitled  the 
DeviVs  Sonata.^ 

Christabel  is  the  poetic  record  of  a vision.  It  is  full  of 
startling  and  beautiful  images,  while  the  very  soul  of  music 
breathes  in  the  masterly  modulation  of  the  verse.  Retiring 
from  the  sphere  of  outward  consciousness,  and  sinking  gen- 
tly to  rest, 

‘‘  Lilie  a pearl  diver  through  the  deep,” 

he  brought  up  the  treasure  to  the  surface  of  his  waking  life. 

I The  singular  story  respecting  the  origin  of  the  Devil’s  Sonata  rests  on 
the  authority  ot  M.  de  Lande,  chapel  master  to  Louis  XIV.— “ One  night, 
in  the  year  1713,  he  dreamed  he  had  made  a compact  with  the  devil,  and 
bound  him  to  liis  service.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  musical  abilities  of  his 
new  associate,  he  gave  him  his  violin,  and  desired  Ijim,  as  the  first  proof  of 
his  obedience,  to  play  him  a solo  ; which,  to  his  great  surprise,  Satan  exe- 
cuted with  such  surpassing  svVeetness,  and  in  so  masterly  a maimer,  that, 
awaking  in  the  ecstacy  which  it  produced,  he  spran^r  out  of  bed,  and  in- 
stantly seizing  his  instrument,  endeavored  to  recall  the  delicious,  fleeting 
sounds.  Although  not  attended  with  the  desired  success,  his  efforts  were 
yet  so  far  effectual  as  to  give  rise  to  the  piece  since  generally  admired  un- 
der the  name  of  ‘ The  Devil’s  Sonata.’  Still  the  production  was  so  inferior 
to  that  which  he  had  lu-ard  in  his  sleep,  as  to  cause  him  to  declare  that, 
could  he  have  procured  subsistence  in  any  other  line,  he  should  have 
broken  his  violin  in  despair,  and  renounced  music  forever.” 


INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 


855 


It  is  said  that  lie  awoke  with  the  mysterious  music  of  Chris- 
tabel  in  his  soul,  and  with  what  appeared  to  be  its  recital 
rinfjino’  in  his  ear.  Without  intellectual  effort  he  immedi- 
ately  transcribed  the  first  part  of  the  poem  from  memory. 
The  termination  is  abrupt,  showing  that  the  inspiration  was 
suddenly  suspended,  or  that  only  a part  of  the  vision  was 
recollected.  Nor  was  the  poet  ever  able  to  complete  it  in 
the  style  and  spirit  in  which  it  was  commenced.  Indeed,  he 
never  completed  it  at  all.  In  the  language  of  another,  “ it 
would  have  been  almost  as  difficult  to  complete  the  Faery 
Queen,  as  to  continue  in  the  same  spirit  that  witching  strain 
of  supernatural  fancy  and  melodious  verse.’’’  Christabel 
was  one  of  the  inspirations  of  the  night — a broken  but  beau- 
tiful fragment  from  the  inner  temple  of  the  Muses.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  Coleridge  comprehended  in  his  faith 
and  philosophy  what  appears  so  beautiful  in  the  light  of  his 
poetic  inspiration. 

'*  Tiie  massive  gates  of  Paradise  are  thrown 
Wide  open,  and  forth  come,  in  fragments  wild, 

Sweet  echoes  of  unearthly  melody, 

And  odors  snatched  from  beds  of  amaranth.” 

The  faculties  that  exhibit  the  greatest  activity  will  be  the 
last  to  find  repose.  Hence  the  Mechanic  dreamed  of  ma- 
chinery, and  the  Professor  of  the  sciences  to  which  he  was 
chiefly  devoted  ; at  the  same  time  the  Lawyer,  the  Poet  and 
the  Musician,  each  pursued  a train  of  thought  peculiar  to 
himself,  and  clearly  manifesting  the  association  of  ideas  in 
sleep  with  the  pursuits  of  our  waking  existence,  and  the 
continued  normal  action  of  the  dominant  faculties.  More- 


i See  Chamber’s  Cyclopaedia  of  English  Literature,  p.  335. 


H56 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS* 


over,  this  psycho-physiological  condition,  like  a state  of 
voluntary  abstraction,  may  render  the  powers  that  remain 
wakeful,  unusually  active  and  strong.  This  convergence  of 
mental  forces  not  only  presents  the  particular  subject  in  a 
strong  light  before  the  mental  vision  of  the  dreamer,  but  it 
may  give  to  his  conceptions  sharp,  bold  outlines,  and  an  in- 
tense expression. 

Whatever  may  serve  to  suspend  the  organic  functions  of 
a part  of  our  faculties,  is  quite  likely,  by  concentrating  the 
mental  energies,  to  augment  other  powers  of  the  mind,  giv- 
ing them  at  once  a preternatural  activity  and  a more  forci- 
ble expression.  This  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  genius. 
Those  who  startle  the  world  with  the  boldness  and  original- 
ity of  their  thoughts,  are,  with  rare  exceptions,  men  in  whom 
some  particular  class  of  faculties  will  be  found  to  predomi- 
nate, arresting  and  holding  in  subordination  all  the  inferior 
powers  of  the  mind.  The  dominant  faculties  thus  give  a 
particular  direction  to  the  electric  forces  of  the  brain,  and 
an  intense  expression  to  the  imperial  idea  and  the  ruling 
passion.  It  is  this  that  kindles  the  lire  on  the  orator’s  lip, 
and  converts  the  parts  of  speech  into  music.  It  illuminates 
the  darkest  problems  in  Nature  ; it  imparts  the  “ fine  frenzy” 
to  the  poet’s  eye,  and  makes  his  language  like  lightning. 
As  sleep  sometimes  only  suspends  the  exercise  of  a part  of 
the  faculties,  it  may,  by  bringing  the  mental  energies  to  a 
focus,  intensify  the  light  that  thus  falls  on  the  particular 
subjects  that  occupy  the  mind. 

Without  either  affirming  or  denying  the  interposition  of 
foreign  intelligent  agents,  in  tlie  occurrence  of  the  more  ex- 
traordinary facts  cited  above,  I may  observe  that  the  phe- 


INSPIRATIONS  OF  THE  NIGHT. 


357 


nomena  indicate,  that  the  particular  faculties  employed  in 
their  production  were  awake  and  organically  active  at  the 
tiine,  while  the  functions  of  otlier  organs  were  suspended. 
Those  powers  of  the  mind  which  are  most  freely,  constantly 
and  vigorously  employed,  will  always  be  most  wakeful,  and 
their  orderly  exercise  will  naturally  continue  some  time 
after  Sleep  has  chained  the  weaker  faculties,  and  closed  up 
the  avenues  that  connect  the  mind  with  the  external  world. 

If  the  unconscious  elements  may  be  God’s  messengers  in 
the  natural  world,  he  is  not  without  suitable  agents  and 
ministers  in  the  higher  departments  of  his  Empire.  Indeed, 
the  Universe — in  the  most  comprehensive  sense — is  one  vast 
storehouse  of  means  and  instruments,  all  subject  to  his  com- 
mand. And  if  the  incarnate  soul,  whereon  his  seal  is  set, 
may  possess  the  key  to  the  penetralia  of  Nature,  other  be- 
ings, of  finer  composition  and  superior  endowments,  may 
serve  his  purpose  effectually  by  informing  the  common  mind. 
Whoever  will  condemn  the  idea,  either  as  a vulgar  supersti- 
tion or  as  a dangerous  heresy,  must  be  prepared  to  convict 
— with  a multitude  of  others— the  authors  of  Paradise  Lost 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Both  believed  and  taught 
that  spiritual  beings  are  wont  to  perform  a silent  but  cease- 
less ministry  among  men,  being  Divinely  commissioned  to 

‘‘ walk  the  earth 

Unseen,  both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep.” 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM. 

Physiological  Aspects  of  the  Sleep-walker — Somnambulism  in  the  Lyris 
Drama — Dangers  incidental  to  the  State — Curious  Case  of  a Dog — Ex- 
amples from  Dr.  Gall,  Mertinet,  Dr.  Prichard  and  Professor  Soave — The 
Author’s  Facts — Remarkable  Case  of  a Student  at  Athens — An  Amusing 
Instance— Somniloquism— Influence  of  our  Pursuits — Lady  Macbeth,  and 
the  Sleep-walker  in  Bellini’s  Opera — Case  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Cook — Personal 
Experiences — An  Audience  in  the  Bed-chamber — Philosophical  Sugges- 
tions— Association  of  Ideas  and  Movements — Testimony  of  Mtiler— Ex- 
amples from  Forty’s  “Mystical  Revelations”  — Jenny  Lind  and  the 
Musical  Somnambulist — Principles  and  Revelations  of  Nature. 

“ The  eouls  of  men  are  wanderer’s  while  they  sleep, 

And  Life’s  continuous  current  ever  flows, 

Whether  to  outward  bliss  the  pulses  'eap, 

Or  languid  glide  in  silence  and  repose.” — Harris. 

The  powers  of  locomotion  and  speech  are  often  exercised 
in  sleep,  and  the  faculty  of  the  seer  is  conjointly  exhib- 
ited in  many  curious  and  startling  phenomena.  The  design 
of  this  work  would  be  manifestly  incomplete  without  a brief 
analysis  and  exposition  of  the  facts  illustrating  tliis  depart- 
ment of  my  subject,  and  hence  the  present  Chapter  may 
very  properly  be  devoted  to  an  elucidation  of  tlie  two  gen- 
eral classes  of  facts,  developed  in  tlie  exercise  of  the  faculties 
already  named.  The  functions  of  Somnambulation,  and  Som- 
niloquism, may  each  be  manifested  separately,  or  they  may 
both  be  performed  at  one  time,  and  by  the  same  person.  As 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  359 

they  are  liable  to  occur  in  this  conjunction,  it  is  possible  the 
several  facts  cited  in  this  connection  may  equally  well  illus- 
trate the  two  phases  of  the  general  subject. 

Somnambulism,  from  the  Latin  somno  and  ambulare,  is  the 
more  familiar  term  employed  to  represent  the  act  of  walk- 
ing in  sleep,  the  examples  of  which — especially  among  young 
persons  of  nervous  temperaments  and  active  habits — are  far 
more  numerous  than  careless  observers  would  be  led  to 
imagine.  The  Somnambulist  generally  walks  with  his  eyes 
wide  open,  though  this  is  not  always  the  case  ; but  whether 
the  lids  be  opened  or  closed,  the  pupil  is  invariably  dilated 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  six  muscles  that  move  the  eye 
appear  to  be  motionless,  and  the  expression  is  fixed,  vacant 
and  glassy.  In  this  state  the  eye  is  evidently  useless  as  the 
organic  instrument  of  vision,  since  the  optic  nerve  no  longer 
conveys  images  of  external  objects  to  the  mind.  The  pupil, 
though  exposed  to  the  solar  rays,  will  never  contract  in  the 
smallest  appreciable  degree ; nor  is  the  influence  of  the 
strongest  light  perceptible  in  the  action  of  the  glandidce, 
h,clmjmales.  These  facts  indicate  with  sufficient  clearness, 
that  the  appropriate  functions  of  the  eye  are  temporarily 
suspended  by  a deathlike  paralysis  of  the  optic  nerve,  which 
is  complete  so  long  as  the  state  continues. 

“ You  see  the  eyes  are  open, 

But  their  sense  is  shut.” 

But  while  the  earthly  instruments  of  vision  are  inoper- 
ative, it  often  appears  that  the  Sleep-walker  discerns  pres- 
ent objects  and  occurrences  with  the  greatest  distinctness — 
by  a mysterious  power  of  \ision  that  is  equally  independent 
of  physical  organs,  of  the  natural  light,  and  every  artificial 


360 


MAX  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


means  of  illumination.  The  functions  of  the  soul  may  not 
necessarily  depend  on  the  bodily  organs.  Moreover,  the 
immortal  nature  is  not  subject  to  the  same  law  of  gravita- 
tion that  acts  on  physical  objects  ; and  as  sleep  serves  to  ob- 
scure its  corporeal  relations,  it  is  perhaps  but  natural  that 
it  should  be  indifferent  to  the  dangers  that  menace  the  body 
with  destruction.  Hence  the  Somnambulist  often  walks  in 
darkness,  as  well  as  in  the  light,  and  he  usually  shuns  the 
obstacles  in  his  pathway.  He  wdll  even  stand  on  the  very 
verge  of  the  steepest  declivity,  or  walk  on  the  roof  of  the 
house,  seemingly  without  the  least  apprehension  of  falling, 
or  so  much  as  the  consciousness  of  imminent  danger.  ^ 

The  Somnambulist,  though  he  occasionally  ventures  into 

^ Somuambulism  has  been  effectively  employed  in  the  Lyric  Drama  The 
chief  interest  of  Bellini’s  beautiful  Opera  centers  in  the  character  of  Amina, 
an  innocent  girl  who  lived  in  a valley  among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland. 
The  maid  was  accustomed  to  walk  when  asleep,  carrying  a flickering  light 
in  one  hand,  and  the  superstitious  people  described  her  as  a shade,  robed 
in  white, 

“ With  streaming  hair  and  glaring  eyes.” 

A room  in  the  village  inn  was  often  visited  by  the  fair  apparition.  One 
night  the  beautiful  specter  entered  the  haunted  chamber,  while  it  was  oc- 
cupied by  Count  Rodolpho.  'Just  then  a deputation  from  the  village  came 
to  welcome  the  Count,  and  discovered  Amina,  who  was  apparently  uncon- 
scious ; but  her  sleep  was  presumed  to  be  feigned.  She  was  suspected  of 
being  unchaste,  and  spurned  by  Elvino,  to  whom  she  was  betrothed. 

In  the  excitement  that  follows  the  spell  is  broken,  and  Amina,  greatly 
terrified,  vaguely  imagines  she  is  dreaming.  The  poor  girl  becomes  the 
unhappy  victim  of  all  the  village  gossips,  till  at  length  the  discovery  of  her 
Bomnaiubulism  is  made.  The  village  phantom  is  seen  walking  on  a ruined 
bridge — long  abandoned  as  impassable — above  an  impetuous  torrent.  The 
people  discover  that  it  is  Amina,  and  gaze  In  mute  astonishment,  expect- 
ing every  moment  to  see  her  plunged  into  the  foaming  flood.  But  sbe  crosses 
in  safety,  thus  unconsciously  vindicating  her  virgin  iimocence  before  the 
people.  Elvino  witnesses  the  thrilling  spectacle ; and  witli  the  restored 
conlidence  and  affect  ion  of  her  lover,  Amina  awakes  to  find  that  he  has 
returned  the  espousal  ring  to  her  linger. 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM. 


3G1 


most  perilous  situations,  seldom  falls  or  is  otherwise  injured 
if  left  undisturbed.  But  there  is  certainly  great  danger  of 
some  personal  injury  to  the  Sleep-walker  if  he  is  awakened 
while  thus  exposed.  The  sudden  return  to  a state  of  normal 
consciousness,  and  the  fears  at  once  excited  by  the  sense  of 
danger,  act  so  powerfully  on  the  subtile  medium  of  volun- 
tary motion  as  to  render  his  control  over  the  muscles  uncer- 
tain, and  his  locomotion,  at  best,  irregular.  The  accidents 
that  happen  to  persons  who  walk  in  sleep  doubtless  result 
— with  rare  exceptions — from  a sudden  interruption  of  the 
somnambulic  trance,  which  may  occur  from  the  influence  of 
outward  disturbances  on  the  sensory  nerves,  or  from  the 
opej-ation  of  inward  causes. 

It  should  be  observed  that  our  pursuits  during  the  day 
maybe  of  such  a nature  as  to  cause  a preternatural  tendency 
of  the  electric  forces  to  certain  voluntary  muscles  ; and  this 
undue  determination  of  nervous  energy  toward  such  portions 
of  the  muscular  system  as  have  been  most  exercised,  may 
continue  in  a degree  after  the  direct  action  of  the  will  has 
been  suspended  by  Sleep.  The  consequent  accumulation  of 
vital  electricity — in  other  words,  the  concentration  of  the 
nervous  power — may  occasion  involuntary  action.  We  have 
witnessed  illustrations  of  this  involuntary  movement  in  the 
dog.  When  die  falls  asleep  after  a long  chase,  he  often 
barks  and  moves  his  legs  as  if  attempting  to  run.^ 

The  physiological  and  mental  phenomena  exhibited  by  the 

I The  following  curious  instance  is  related  by  a correspondent  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  Times.  He  had  returned  with  his  dog  from  a day’s  sport  in  the 
field,  and  in  the  course  of  the  evening  witnessed  the  phenomena  he  thu.'* 
describes : 

“ I was  attracted  by  a very  curious  sound  from  the  dog.  and  a strange  , 
fixed  look  from  his  ey  s,  which  wire  set  as  though  glazed  in  death,  and 


362 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Somnambulist  are  greatly  diversified,  and  the  employments 
he  seeks  are  generally  such  as  have  occupied  his  mind  or 
engaged  his  hands  during  the  day.  Dr.  Gall  gives  an  ac- 
count of  a miller  who  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  every  night 
and  running  his  mill.  Mertinet  mentions  the  case  of  a sad- 
dler who  worked  at  his  trade  when  sleeping  ; and  Dr.  Prich- 
ard that  of  a farmer  who  got  out  of  bed,  dressed  himself, 
saddled  his  horse,  and  rode  to  market  while  asleep.  Pro- 
fessor Soave  reports  the  case  of  an  Apothecary’s  clerk  who 
not  only  walked  while  asleep,  but  would  kindle  his  fire  ; 
pursue  his  studies,  examining  authoritie-s  ,*  classify  botanical 
specimens  ; engage  in  animated  controversies^ — with  his  em- 
ployer or  Professor  Soave — on  Chemistry  and  other  scienti- 
fic themes  ; and,  indeed,  perform  any  duty  or  service  that 
he  was  accustomed  to  do  in  his  waking  hours.  He  would 
carefully  compound  medicines,  according  to  the  prescriptions 
that  were  before  him,  but  conscientiously  declined  filling 
false  prescriptions,  or  such  as  would  be  likely  to  injure  the 
patient.^  Mrs.  Newton,  a relative  of  the  writer,  was  a 
skillful  seamstress  and  was  accustomed  to  the  unconscious 

neither  changed  nor  quivered  in  the  slightest  degree,  though  the  blaze  of  a 
cheerful  wood-fire  shone  brightly  upon  them.  To  my  infinite  astonishment, 
after  stretching  his  limbs  several  times  and  whining,  he  gradually  arose  to 
his  feet  and  assumed  the  attitude  of  pointing,  in  every  particular  just  as  I 
have  seen  him  do  a hundred  times  in  the  field,  when  the  aroma  from  an  en- 
tire covey  was  warm  on  the  mild  breeze.  His  lips  were  set,  and  quivered 
with  eager  but  suppressed  excitement — which  a good  pointer  ever  manifests 
when  near  his  game — and  the  chiseled  marble  could  not  remain  more 
stanch  than  this  exliibltion  of  his  point.  When  my  surprise  had  a llUlo 
abated,  I spoke  to  the  dog  ; but  he  manifested  no  consciousness,  nor  took 
the  slightest  notice  of  my  voice,  though  several  times  repeated  ; and  it  waa 
only  when  I touched  him  that  the  spell  wuis  broken  ; when,  running  several 
times  round  the  room,  he  quietly  resumed  his  place  before  the  fire.’’ 

‘ Opuscoli  Scelti,  yd.  III.,  p.  1780.  See,  also,  Pert}' ’s  “ Mystical  Reve- 
lations of  Human  Nature,”  p,  121. 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  363 

use  of  lier  needle  for  lioiirs  at  night,  when  there  was  no 
liglit  in  her  room.  A friend,  m'Iio  was  an  accomplished 
horseman,  often  rode  many  miles  while  he  was  in  a profound 
slumber  ; and  it  is  a still  more  remarkable  fact — but  well 
authenticated — that  in  the  disastrous  retreat  of  Sir  John 
Moore,  before  the  battle  of  Corunna,  many  of  the  soldiers 
fell  asleep,  yet  continued  to  march  with  their  comrades. 

The  subjects  that  most  deeply  impress  the  mind  are  very 
likely  to  determine  the  movements  of  the  Sleep-walker. 
Sometimes  the  student  is  so  completely  occupied  with  his 
studies  that  the  mind’s  exercise  is  not  suspended  in  sleep, 
but  it  continues  to  act,  as  a ponderable  body,  that  has  ac- 
quired a certain  momentum,  will  still  move  after  the  propel- 
ling force  has  been  withdrawn.  Some  years  since,  while  a 
young  lady — a member  of  the  Author’s  family — was  at  school, 
it  was  observed  that  she  succeeded  in  her  Latin  exercises, 
without  apparently  devoting  much  time  or  attention  to  the 
subjecto  At  length  the  secret  of  her  easy  progress  was  dis- 
covered. vShe  was  observed  to  leave  her  room  at  night — 
and  taking  her  class  books — she  proceeded  to  a certain  place 
on  the  bank  of  a small  stream,  where  she  remained  but  a 
short  time,  and  then  returned  to  the  house.  In  the  morning 
she  was  invariably  unconscious  of  what  had  occurred  during 
the  night,  but  a glance  at  the  lesson  for  the  day  usually 
resulted  in  the  discovery  that  it  was  already  quite  as  fami- 
liar to  her  mind  as  household  words. 

The  facts  of  a similar  case  were  published  in  a late  num- 
ber of  Notes  and  Queries,”  by  D.  J.  Rhodocanakis,  a gen- 
tleman from  Greece,  who  now  resides  in  Arthur  Terrace, 
Manchester,  England.  The  material  portions  of  the  state- 

23 


364 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ment  will  interest  the  reader,  and  accordingly  they  are  sub- 
mitted in  this  connection  : 

When,  in  185G,  I was  studying  in  a college  at  Athens,  there  was  in  the 
same  class  with  me  a young  student  from  an  island  of  the  Greek  Archipel- 
ago, who,  though  extremely  stupid  and  unable  to  learn  any  lesson  by  heart, 
was  yet  making  the  best  Latin  exercises  and  solving  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems of  geometry  and  algebra.  . . . The  professors,  although  astonisned 
at  the  correctness  of  his  themes  and  problems,  for  a long  time  forbore  to 
inquire  how  they  could  be  the  productions  of  a mind  apparently  so  dull. 
At  last,  however,  the  director  of  the  college,  suspecting  that  some  member 
of  a higher  class  was  doing  his  work  for  him,  locked  him — for  experi- 
ment, one  night — in  a room  adjoining  his  own,  and  told  him  that  he  should 
visit  him  very  early  next  morning,  in  order  to  see  if  he  had  solved  his 
geometrical  problem. 

‘‘  Next  morning,  according  to  his  promise,  the  director  went  to  the  room 
of  the  unhappy  imprisoned  scholar,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  done  his  task. 
He  answered,  ‘Yes;  but  how  I cannot  explain.  Last  night,  after  trying 
many  hours  to  solve  it,  and  not  being  able,  I slept,  and  when  in  the  morn- 
ing I awoke,  and  was  sorry  beyond  expression,  thinking  of  the  punishment 
I should  receive,  0,  wonder ! as  I approached  my  writing  table,  I found  it 
already  solved,  and  in  my  own  handwriting.’ 

“ The  director,  greatly  surprised,  immediately  communicated  the  affair 
to  the  doctor  of  the  college,  who,  thinking  that  the  boy  might  be  subject  to 
somnambulism,  and  that  under  its  influence  he  was  solving  the  problems 
and  making  the  exercises,  decided  to  watch  his  proceedings  during  the  next 
night.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the  young  man  locked  his  door,  and,  after 
reading  for  an  hour,  went  to  bed,  the  doctor  walked  into  his  room  from  a 
secret  door,  and  took  his  seat.  After  waiting  for  nearly  three  hours,  and 
when  be  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  room,  the  boy  awoke,  lit  his  can- 
dle, began  to  write,  and  after  half  an  hour’s  labor,  extinguished  his  candle, 
and  again  went  to  bed.  The  doctor  at  that  retired  to  his  room,  and  in  the 
morning  narrated  his  discovery  to  the  director  and  the  other  professors, 
who  immediately  commenced  debating  how  to  prevent  the  same  thing  oc- 
curring again.”  i 

I The  writer  in  “ Notes  and  Queries”  assures  us  that  the  young  man 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  365 

I 

It  appears  that  the  Somnambulist  is  not  very  likely  to  be 
disturbed  by  such  circumstances  as  he  is  led  to  apprehend  ; 
and  the  slumber  is  not  liable  to  be  broken  except  by  vital 
causes,  the  occurrence  of  unexpected  events,  or  some  arbi- 
trary change  in  his  outward  relations  which  may  abruptly 
disturb  the  electrical  equilibration  of  the  nervous  system. 
Hence,  while  the  regular  exercise  of  locomotion  does  not 
interrupt  the  trance,  a false  step  might  cause  him  to  awake. 
A glass  of  cold  water — dashed  in  the  face — might  instantly 
awaken  a Somnambulist,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  this 
sudden  violence  would  be  wholly  unexpected  ; but  when  the 
sleep-walker  anticipates  what  is  coming,  the  nervous  system 
seems  to  be  so  braced  by  the  mind’s  action  that  the  shock 
is  resisted,  and  the  slumber  continues  unbroken.  I have 
somewhere  read  an  amusing  account  of  the  nocturnal  move- 
ments of  a man  who  occasionally,  on  waking  in  the  morn- 
ing, found  himself  sans  culottes.  The  mysterious  disappear- 
ance of  his  garments  could  not  be  accounted  for  until  some 
one  watched  at  night  in  his  apartment,  and  discovered  that 
he  left  his  bed,  and  with  only  a portion  of  his  ordinary 
clothing  on,  proceeded  to  the  river,  which  was  not  far  off* 
On  reaching  the  bank  he  disrobed  liimself,  and  folding  up 
his  garments  carefully  placed  them  under  a fallen  tree,  and 
plunged  into  the  stream.  Tlie  nightly  ablution  being  over 
the  vSomnambulist,  as  usual,  returned  to  his  chamber,  leav- 
ing his  clothes  where  he  had  placed  them,  and  where  all 

could  never  he  made  to  believe  that  he  was  a somnambulist ; but  he  insisted 
that  his  departed  “ mother,  pitying  him,  and  not  wishing  him  to  be  pun- 
ished by  his  professors,  came  every  night  while  he  was  sleeping,  and  solved 
his  problems  and  wrote  his  themes,  imitating  his  handwriting,  in  order  not 
to  be  detected  by  the  professors.” 


366 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  missing  articles  from  his  wardrobe  were  subsequently 
found.  In  this  case  the  mind  and  the  sensories  were  prop* 
erly  fortified,  and  the  shock  occasioned  by  a plunge  bath, 
with  the  water  many  degrees  below  the  vital  temperature, 
did  not  in  the  least  disturb  the  sleeper. 

Somniloquism,  from  somnus  and  loquor,  is  the  practice  of 
talking  in  sleep  ; but  when  sleep  results  from  sympathy — is 
induced  by  the  magnetic  process — the  act  of  speaking  is  usu- 
ally expressed  by  the  term  somniloquy.  The  reader  has 
doubtless  observed  that  children  of  an  active  temperament 
are  inclined  to  be  constantly  on  their  feet  during  tlie  day  ; 
they  are,  moreover,  disposed  to  converse  more  freely — if  not 
subject  to  arbitrary  restraints — than  older  people.  Nor  do 
they  cease  to  exhibit  these  proclivities  at  night,  since  they 
are  far  more  inclined  to  walk  and  talk  in  sleep  than  persons 
of  maturer  years.  We  have  already  noticed  the  influence  of 
our  waking  pursuits  on  the  mind  in  a state  of  somnolence, 
and  agreeably  to  this  observation  it  will  be  found  that  per- 
sons whose  intellectual  faculties  act  with  great  intensity,  and 
especially  the  orator,  and  all  such  as  have  large  conversa- 
tional powers,  are  most  likely  to  be  communicative  in  sleep. 

Somniloquism  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  psycho- 
physiological  phenomena  of  a natural  slumber  The  author 
of  La  Sonnambula  makes  the  beautiful  Sleep-walker  lisp  the 
name  of  her  lover,  and  talk  of  the  lost  ring,  while  she  wan- 
ders by  night;  and  the  great  dramatist,  who  'more  than 
any  other  poet,  ancient  or  modern — comprehended  the  phil- 
osophy of  human  nature,  describes  Lady  Macbetli  in  the  act 
of  “ discharging  the  secrets  of  her  infected  mind  to  her  deaf 
pillow.”  It  is  especially  when  some  subject  engages  all  tlio 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  367 

faculties,  or  events  of  great  moment  weigh  heavily  on  the 
mind  at  the  close  of  the  day,  that  we  are  most  likely  to  give 
utterance  to  what  is  passing  in  the  mind  during  the  hours  of 
Sleep.  While  multitudes,  under  such  circumstances,  talk  in* 

I 

coherently,  there  are  here  and  there  persons  who  discuss 
grave  questions  with  admirable  method  and  surprising  elo- 
quence. My  limits  will  not  admit  of  the  citation  of  many 
examples  ; nor  are  they  required.  Indeed,  the  proper  eluci- 
dation of  the  subject  does  not  so  much  depend  on  the  num- 
ber as  on  the  nature  of  the  facts  presented,  and  the  use  that 
is  made  of  them  in  the  treatment  of  the  general  subject. 

Among  the  more  conspicuous  illustrations,  occurring  with- 
in the  sphere  of  personal  observation,  I may  mention  the 
case  of  the  late  Rev.  J.  M.  Cook,  a Clergyman  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  denomination,  whose  somniloquism  was  extraordi- 
nary. He  was  accustomed  to  extemporize  his  discourses, 
and  he  was  at  once  a very  natural  and  forcible  speaker. 
This  gentleman,  while  asleep,  frequently  conducted  the  en- 
tire religious  services  according  to  the  formula  of  his  Church. 
On  one  occasion,  when  returning  from  a convention — being 
a passenger  on  a boat  and  asleep  in  his  berth — he  gravely 
commenced  the  usual  form  of  the  public  service  by  reciting 
a portion  of  Scripture,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
other  passengers.  He  then  gave  out  a hjmn,  and  after  offer- 
ing prayer  took  his  text  and  preached  a powerful  discourse 
in  illustration  and  defense  of  the  doctrines  of  his  Church. 

Among  the  conditions  essential  to  successful  intercourse 
with  the  sleeper,  such  relations  as  establish  a psycho-electri- 
cal rapport^  and  that  inward  sympathy  which  results  from 
similar  intellectual  developments  and  moral  attributes,  are, 


368 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


perhaps,  the  most  important.  When  there  is  mutual  sympa- 
thy, a nice  adjustment  of  personal  relations,  and  the  circum- 
stances are  quite  favorable,  the  Somniloquist  may  respond 
with  great  freedom  and  in  a pertinent  manner.  Perty,  in 
his  “Mystical  Revelations,”  refers  to  the  case  of  Mrs.  Yon 

U , a natural  Somnambulist,  who  conversed  with  ease 

and  fluency  whenever  her  husband  took  hold  of  her  hand. 

She  made  exact  revelations  of  the  thoughts  and  designs  of 
persons  in  her  presence,  and  her  communications  were  occa- 
sionally prophetic,  foreshadowing  the  events  that  were  to 
occur  on  the  succeeding  day. 

I have  a personal  experience  to  relate.  In  the  period  of 
childPood  and  early  youth.  Sleep-walking  was  a common  oc- 
currence, and  the  practice  continued  until  an  exciting  and 
somewhat  painful  experience  terminated  my  nocturnal  ad- 
ventures. Being  absent  from  home,  on  one  occasion,  it  be-  j 

came  necessary  for  me  to  sleep  in  an  open  garret.  In  the  j 

course  of  the  night  I dreamed  of  traveling,  and  the  body  i 

i 

moved  off  under  this  action  of  the  mind.  Whether  the  ac-  j 

cident  that  followed  was  the  result  of  a false  step,  or  of  a | 

sudden  interruption  of  the  somnambulic  trance,  from  some  \ 
other  cause,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  ; but  at  length  1 \ 

found  myself  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  in  a horizontal 
position,  having  accomplished  the  descent  by  the  force  of 
gravity,  unaided  by  locomotion. 

The  rambling  utterances  that  frequently  accompanied  the 
phenomenon  of  sleep-walking  were  succeeded,  at  a later  per- 
iod in  life,  by  speeches  that  exhibited  (if  I may  acce})t  the  - 
testimony  of  many  witnesses)  an  uninterru])ted  flow  of  ideas,  ^ 
expressed  in  coherent  and  forcible  language.  It  was  after 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  369 

adopting  tlie  clerical  profession — which  made  it  necessary 
for  me  to  address  public  assemblies — that  this  practice  of 
extemporizing  in  sleep  assumed  an  orderly  form,  and  began 
to  awaken  a lively  interest  in  the  minds  of  such  persons  as 
chanced  to  be  my  auditors.  It  was  frequently  remarked  by 
the  listeners  that  the  discourses  thus  given  were  character- 
ized by  unusnal  boldness  and  originality  of  thought ; pecu- 
liar iptness  and  freshness  in  tfte  modes  of  illustration,  com- 
bined with  logical  discrimination  and  remarkable  freedom 
in  the  use  of  language.  It  was  evident  that  tlie  nature  of 
my  profession  strongly  influenced  the  operations  of  the  mind 
in  sleep  ; nor  did  the  suspension  of  the  clerical  functions 
finally  terminate  those  ministrations  that  often  broke  the 
impressive  silence  of  the  night. 

On  resigning  my  original  profession  I did  not  find  it  con- 
venient to  assume  a strictly  private  relation  ; but  during  a 
period  of  ten  years  I visited  no  less  than  twenty-three  States 
of  the  Union  in  the  capacity  of  a lecturer  on  moral  and  met- 
aphysical philosophy.  This  constant  use  of  a particular 
class  of  faculties,  combined  with  the  exercise  of  the  organs 
of  speech,  increased  the  tendency  to  somniloquism,  and  the 
free  lectures,  to  private  classes  in  dark  chambers,  became 
more  frequent.  I am  reminded  of  an  instance  that  occurred 
some  years  since  at  a Hotel  in  Connecticut.  Wearied  by 
the  labors  of  the  day,  I retired  at  an  early  hour  and  imme- 
diaiiely  fell  asleep.  On  my  return  to  a state  of  outward 
consciousness  there  were  phantom-shapes  moving  in  the 
room,  which  were  plainly  discerned  by  the  light  from  the 
street  lamp.  I was  not  long  in  making  tlie  discovery  that 
my  visitors  were  incarnate  spirits,  and  that  I had  uncon- 


370 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sciously  summoned  a very  respectable  audience  (not  exactly 
in  fall  dress),  consisting  of  the  proprietor’s  family  and  a 
number  of  his  guests. 

As  the  soul  doubtless  wanders  when  the  sleeper  is  made 
to  walk,  so  when  he  dreams  of  addressing  public  assemblies, 
or  of  conducting  a conversation,  he  is  most  likely  to  become 
somniloquous.  In  one  case  the  mind,  by  its  involuntary  ac- 
tion, naturally  directs  the  nervous  forces  to  the  muscles  of 
locomotion  5 in  the  other  case,  to  the  organs  of  speech  ; and 
in  both  producing  the  appropriate  bodily  functions.  These 
are  but  the  organic  expressions  of  the  faculties  employed, 
and  the  manner  of  their  exercise.  Thus  when  the  mind 
travels  the  body  is  liable  to  be  moved,  and  the  somniloquist 
is  but  a dreamer  whose  thoughts  are  vocally  expressed.  ‘ 

The  magnetic  sleeper,  with  rare  exceptions,  will  converse 
with  his  magnetizer,  or  any  other  person  with  whom  he  is 
in  temporary  rapport.  In  this  state  of  coma  the  subject  of 
somnipathy  often  discovers  amazing  powers  of  perception 
and  a wide  range  of  ideas  entirely  above  the  normal  plain 
of  his  mind.  In  some  cases,  especially  when  the  mental  and 
moral  atmosphere,  and  the  magnetic  influence  of  the  opera- 


iMiiler,  in  his  Physiology  of  the  Senses,  Voice,  Muscular  Motion,  etc., 
(p.  944),  says  : “ The  connection  between  ideas  and  movements  is  some- 
times as  close  as  that  between  different  ideas ; thus  when  an  idea  and  a 
movement  have  frequently  occurred  in  connection  with  each  other,  the  idea 
often  excites  the  involuntary  production  of  the  movement.  Hence  it  is 
that  a threatening  movement  before  the  eyes,  even  the  passing  of  another 
person’s  hand  in  front  of  them,  causes  the  eyelids  to  be  involuntarily 
closed;  that  we  are  accustomed  always  to  accompany  the  expression  of 
certain  ideas  with  certain  gestures,  and  that  we  involuntarily  move  our 
hands  to  catch  a falling  body.  It  is  a general  rule  that  the  more  frequently 
ideas  and  movements  are  voluntarily  associated  together,  the  more  prone 
are  the  movements  to  be  excited  by  those  ideas  rather  than  by  the  wilt.” 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUISM.  ' 371 

tor  are  altogether  congenial,  the  subject  is  acutely  suscepti- 
ble of  the  slightest  influence  exerted  on  the  medium  of  sen- 
sation and  motion.  Every  sliade  of  feeling,  and  the  most 
delicate  operations  of  the  mind,  are  all  impressed  on  the 
sensorium  of  the  sleeper,  by  a kind  of  electro-mental  photo- 
graphy that  can  not  fail  to  excite  profound  astonishment  in 
the  mind  of  the  intelligent  observer.  In  such  cases  the 
po'>vers  of  perception — on  the  part  of  the  subject— may  be 
wholly  exercised  through  the  brain  of  the  operator,  and  the 
volition  of  the  latter  may  determine  every  sensation  and 
movement  of  the  former.  This  automatic  perception  and 
action  often  displays  the  most  exquisite  susceptibility  of  sen- 
sorial and  mental  impressions,  and  is  further  characterized 
by  a functional  precision  that  is  unsurpassed  by  the  most 
perfect  mathematical  and  mechanical  combinations. 

The  rapport  between  the  magnetizer  and  his  subject  is 
often  so  intimate,  and  the  commerce  of  thought  and  feeling 
so  real  and  unlimited,  that  great  prudence  and  circumspec- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  former,  should  be  constantly  ob- 
served. In  some  cases  the  sleeper  feels  every  inclination  of 
the  operator,  and  may  possibly  be  quite  as  ready  to  follow 
the  impulse  that  actuates  him.  Nor  does  this  automatic  ac- 
tion necessarily  depend  on  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
magnetizer  ; but  it  is  liable  to  occur  at  a distance,  and  may 
continue  until  the  slumber  is  broken,  or  the  magnetic  rap- 
port is  otherwise  interrupted.  An  illustration  of  this  kind 
was  some  years  since  communicated  to  the  writer  by  the 
late  Dr.  Lockwood,  of  Stamford,  Connecticut.  The  Doctor, 
having  at  one  time  a delicate  female  patient  -not  likely  to 
he  benefited  by  medicine— magnetized  the  lady  and  left  her 


872 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


asleep  while  he  went  to  visit  another  patient.  On  his  return 
he  found  that  the  sleeper  had,  during  his  absence,  experi- 
enced all  the  promptings  of  his  own  nature,  and  had  followed 
them  so  literally  as  to  occasion  unpleasant  consequences. 

Dr.  Spiritus  found  a good  magnetic  subject  in  the  case 
of  a girl  whom  he  was  treating  professionally.  When  in 
the  sleep  she  only  preserved  her  conscious  connection  with 
the  outward  world  through  the  Doctor’s  senses.  She  read- 
ily perceived  whatever  affected  hi?s  sensory  nerves.  While 
she  could  not  hear  the  report  of  a gun,  she  had  no  difficulty 
in  hearing  the  ticking  of  the  Doctor’s  watch  whenever  he 
placed  it  by  his  own  ear.  When  he  filled  his  ears  with  cot- 
ton, she  complained  that  he  had  made  her  deaf.  If  he  was 
hurt,  she  felt  the  pain  in  the  corresponding  part  of  her  own 
body.  On  one  occasion  he  voluntarily  suspended  his  respi- 
ration, when  the  girl  fainted,  and  on  her  recovery  she  de- 
clared that  she  must  have  suffocated  had  the  Doctor  sup- 
pressed his  breathing  a little  longer.  Dr.  Gmelin  once 
made  the  experiment  of  taking  an  emetic,  in  the  absence  of 
a susceptible  female  patient,  who  found  the  medicine  to  act 
in  her  case  as  effectually  as  if  she  had  taken  it  herself.  7 
^ Dr.  Cataneo,  of  Genoa,  found  a rare  magnetic  subject  in  a 
young  painter  of  Turin.  The  Doctor  was  at  the  time  mucli 
exercised  in  mind  witli  reflections  on  the  life  and  cliaracter 
of  the  conqueror  Dschingischan.  On  one  occasion,  while 
the  young  artist  was  in  the  magnetic  sleep,  and  in  mental 
rapport  with  the  Doctor,  he  executed  a portrait  of  the  great 
chief  of  the  Tartars.  At  tlie  same  time  a lady  in  another 
apartment — wlio  was  likewise  in  magnetic  sympatliy  with 

» Ferty’s  “Mystical  Revelations  ot’Huin:ui  Nature,’’  p.  174. 


somnambulism  and  somniloqutsm.  37^-^ 

tlie  mind  of  Cataneo — gave  a most  graphic  description  of 
the  same  person.  ‘ 

Feriiel  reports  the  facts  respecting  a boy  who  could  speak 
Greek  and  Latin  when  in  tlie  magnetic  sleep.  Lorry  also 
mentions  the  case  of  a girl  of  ten  years  that  would  make 
long  speeches  when  her  mother  placed  one  hand  on  her 
head.  When  the  hand  was  removed  the  flow  of  words  and 
ideas  was  immediately  interrupted.  Professor  Agardh,  of 
Lund,  Sweden,  furnishes  another  interesting  example.  Lie 
met  with  a magnetic  sleeper  in  the  person  of  a boy  who 
could  speak  Latin  with  greater  fluency  than  his  native 
tongue.  He  could  also  converse  in  French.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  a person  educated  in  the  English  language  had 
expressed  doubts  of  his  ability  to  speak  languages  he  had 
never  learned,  the  boy  immediately  commenced  a conversa- 
tion in  English,  and  the  skeptic  was  obliged  to  acknowledge 
that  he  spoke  the  language  as  freely  and  correctly  as  an  ed- 
ucated Englishman.  At  the  same  time  the  teacher  affirmed 
that  his  pupil  had  never  learned — by  the  ordinary  process 
of  scholastic  training — a word  that  he  had  uttered.^ 

1 find  a most  striking  and  perfect  example  of  somnipathe- 
tic,  sensorial  perception  and  simultaneous  muscular  motion 
in  the  remarkable  experiments  made  by  the  Swedish  Night- 
ingale, some  years  since,  on  a magnetic  subject  in  England. 
Jeuny  Lind  had  been  invited  with  several  friends  to  attend 
a seance  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Braid,  under  whose  direc- 

^Perty’s  “ Mystical  Revelations  of  Human  Nature,”  p.  418. 

2 Macnish  met  with  a girl  that  spoke  Galish,-and  Prof.  La  Mothe  le  Vayer 
with  a citizen  of  La  Ferre,  near  Rouen,  who  could  answer  questions  in  all 
languages,  ancient  and  modern. 


MAN  AND  ms  DELATIONS. 


?>74 

tion  the  experiments  were  made.  The  account  oi  the  mag- 
netic  and  musical  novelties,  witnessed  on  that  occasion,  orig- 
inally appeared  in  the  Manchester  Courier,  and  the  material 
portions  of  the  same  have  been  extensively  re-published  by 
the  American  press.  The  following  extract  will  suffice  to 
indicate  the  surprising  nature  of  the  performance,  while  it 
furnishes  a curious  and  convincing  illustration  of  my  subject. 

“ Jenny  Lind  played  and  sang  a slow  air,  with  Swedish  words,  in  which 
the  Somnambulist  accompanied  her  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  both  as  re- 
garded words  and  music.  Jenny  now  seemed  resolved  to  test  the  powers  of 
the  Somnambulist  to  the  utmost  by  a continued  strain  of  the  most  difficult 
roulades  and  cadenzas,  including  some  of  her  extraordinary  sostinuto  notes, 
with  all  their  inflections  from  pianissimo  to  forte  crescendo,  and  again  di- 
minished to  thread-like  pianissimo  ; but  in  all  these  fantastic  tricks  and  dis- 
plays of  genius,  even  to  the  shake,  she  was  so  closely  and  accurately  tracked 
by  the  Somnambulist  that  several  in  the  room  occasionally  could  not  have 
told,  merely  by  hearing,  that  there  were  two  individuals  singing  - so  in- 
stantaneously did  she  catch  the  notes,  and  so  perfectly  did  their  voices 
blend  and  accord. 

“ Next,  Jenny  having  been  told  by  Mr.  Braid  that  the  subject  might  be 
tested  by  some  other  language,  commenced  ‘ Casta  Diva,’  in  which  the  fidel- 
ity of  the  Somnambulist’s  performance,  both  in  words  and  music,  fully  justi- 
fied all  that  Mr.  Braid  had  alleged  regarding  her  powers.  The  girl  has  nat- 
urally a good  voice,  and  has  had  a little  musical  instruction  in  some  of  the 
‘ Music  for  the  Million,’  but  is  quite  incompetent  of  performing  any  such 
feat  in  the  waking  condition,  either  as  regards  singing  the  notes  or  speak- 
ing the  words  with  the  accuracy  she  did  when  in  the  somnambulic  state 
She  was  also  tested  by  Mad’lle  Lind  in  merely  imitating  language,  when 
she  gave  most  exact  imitations ; and  Mr.  Schwabe  also  tried  her  by  some 
difficult  combinations  of  sound,  which  he  said  no  one  was  capable  of  imitat- 
ing correctly  without  much  practice  ; but  the  Sornnaiubulist  imitated  them 
correctly  at  once,  and  that  whether  spoken  slowly  or  quickly.” 

Whenever  two  individuals  are  in  personal  contact,  a blend- 
ing— more  or  less  perfect — of  the  electrical  forces  of  their 


SOMNAMBULISM  AND  SOMNILOQUTSM.  375 

bodies  is  sure  to  result  from  the  connection  ; and  this  occurs 
in  the  greatest  degree  when  the  conjunction  is  effected  at 
the  most  sensitive  points  in  the  nervous  system.  This  coales- 
cence of  the  forces — rendered  inevitable  by  the  homogen- 
iousness  of  the  vital  principle — is  measured  and  determined 
by  the  operation  of  a natural  law.  If  the  persons  thus  united 
sustain  positive  and  negative  relations,  respectively  to  each 
other,  they  become  as  one  for  the  time  being,  and  so  long 
as  the  connection — -whether  by  actual  contact  or  through  the 
electro-magnetic  atmospheres  that  surround  them — remains 
unbroken.  In  such  a case  the  negative  .party  virtually  be- 
comes an  additional  member  of  the  other,  and  may  even  feel 
through  the  same  sensorium,  and  be  moved  by  the  agency  of 
the  same  will. 

Among  the  most  important  magnetic  revelations,  appar- 
ently derived  from  communion  with  the  subtile  powers  of 
the  natural  world,  I may  mention  the  book  entitled,  “ The 
Principles  of  Nature,  her  Divine  Revelations,  and  a Voice 
to  Mankind,’^  It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  remind  the  in- 
telligent American  reader  that  this  large  octavo  volume  was 
wholly  dictated  by,  or  through,  Mr.  A.  J.  Davis,  while  he 
was  in  a state  of  magnetic  entrancement,  induced  by  the 
manipulations  of  Dr.  S.  S.  Lyon.  The  truth  of  this  state- 
ment is  supported  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  many  wit- 
nesses, the  author  of  the  present  treatise  being  one  of  the 
number.  Nature’s  Revelations  were  made  and  published 
while  Mr.  Davis  was  but  a youth,  destitute  of  all  scholastic 
attainments  and  undisciplined  in  mind  ; and  yet  the  work 
exhibits  a peculiar  method,  great  independence  of  thought, 
and  mysterious  powers  of  insight  and  comprehension.  It  is, 


37G 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


however,  110  part  of  niy  design  to  undertake  a critical  analy- 
sis of  tlie  contents  of  this  work,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
its  intrinsic  merits  and  defects.  It  is  only  as  a psycliologi- 
cal  phenomenon  that  it  now  claims  attention.  Viewed  in 
this  light,  it  is  a stupendous  fact  ; and  we  shall  examine  the 
records  of  psychological  science  and  search  all  liistory  in 
vain  for  one  of  this  class  that  more  forcibly  suggests  the 
amazing  grandeur  of  Nature  and  the  sublime  possibilities  of 
the  Human  Mind. 

There  are  few  persons  susceptible  of  the  magnetic  sleep 
who  do  not  readily  converse  while  in  that  state,  though  the 
inexperienced  magnetizer  is  quite  likely  to  produce  a tem- 
porary paralysis  of  the  organs  of  speech,  as  he  is  also  liable 
to  suspend — for  the  time  being — other  voluntary  functions. 
In  some  instances  the  sleeper  is  limited  in  his-  ideas  and 
forms  of  expression  to  his  own  range  of  thought  and  use  of 
language  ; in  other  cases,  his  sphere  is  enlarged  by  what- 
ever belongs  to  the  mental  powers  and  acquirements  of  the 
magnetizer,  or  the  person  with  whom  the  subject  is  in  imme- 
diate sympathy  ; while  occasionally  he  rises,  as  on  eagles’ 
wings,  and  with  unclouded  vision,  above  the  normal  plane 
of  the  human  mind  ; enters  into  sympathy  with  the  invisible 
forces  and  the  great  laws  of  the  Universe  ; or,  it  may  be, 
into  sublime  association  and  intimate  fellowship  with  the 
higher  sources  of  Intelligence. 


V 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 

Preliminary  OLpcrvatioiis — Relations  of  Clairvoyance  to  the  Pagan  Mysteries 
— Illustrations  from  the  Scriptures— Croesus  and  the  Emperor  Trajan  con- 
sult the  Oracles — The  Seer  of  Samos — Revelations  of  Apollonius — Tes- 
timony of  St.  Augustine — Examples  from  the  Life  of  Swedenborg — The 
Seeress  of  Prevorst — Illustrative  Facts  from  Dr.  de  Bonneville,  Jacob 
Bbhme,  Stilling  and  Zschokke — Remarkable  Cases  from  Perty’s  Mystical 
Revelations — A Provost  Marshall  of  France  among  the  Seers — Discovery 
of  Capt.  Austin  and  Sir  John  Franklin — Clairvoyance  of  Alexis — A Seeress 
in  Hartford  reads  an  Epitaph  in  Bermuda — She  Discovers  a Remedy  for 
Yellow  Fever — A Doctor  mistakes  Solids  for  "fluids -Seeing  a Cambric 
Needle  twenty-four  miles  off,  and  a penny  at  a distance  of  one  thousand 
miles  ! — Surprising  Developments — A Fair  Infidel  and  her  Inamorato 
Exposed — Second  Sight  of  the  Highlanders — Application  of  the  Argu- 
ment to  Science — Concluding  Observations. 

“ The  stranger  at  my  fireside  can  not  see 

The  forms  I see  n >f  hear  the  sounds  I hear  ; 

Fe  hut  perceives  what  is  ; while  unto  me 
AV  that  has  been  is  visible  ?-nd  cl  Jar  ” — Longfellow 

CL  AIRY  OYAN  CE,  derived  from  the  French,  literally  sig- 
nifies dear  sight ; but  the  term  is  especially  employed  to 
represent  that  mysterious  power  of  perception  whereby  cer- 
tain persons  discern  distant  objects  and  occurrences  without 
the  aid  of  light  or  the  use  of  the  organic  instruments  of 
vision.  'This  power  is  more  or  less  perfectly  displayed  by 
many  persons  and  under  a variety  of  conditions.  In  certain 
cases  it  appears  to  be  a normal  faculty  ; in  others  its  exer- 
cise occurs  spontaneously  at  irregular  intervals  ; while  in 
many  it  is  induced  by  the  magnetic  sleep.  It  should  be  ob- 
served that  the  faculty  itself  is  essentially  the  same  in  all 


$ 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 

cases,  whatever  may  be  the  immediate  incentives  to  its  ac- 
tion, and  irrespective  of  the  circumstances  that  accompany 
its  development.  But  it  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  this 
faculty  varies  in  degree^  and  in  respect  to  the  objects  compre- 
hended within  the  field  of  vision.  Its  compass  may  be  lim 
ited  to  material  objects  and  occurrences  already  past,  or  ac- 
tually transpiring  at  the  time  ; or  it  may  assume  a wider 
range  and  embrace  coming  events  and  the  realities  of  our 
spiritual  and  immortal  life. 

When  the  rapport  magnetlque  is  properly  established  with 
a susceptible  person,  it  often  happens  that  the  latter  per- 
ceives the  physiological,  pathological,  mental  and  moral 
states  and  exercises  of  the  former,  by  a kind  of  sympathetic 
feeling  or  psychometric  sensation,  which  is  frequently  mis- 
taken by  the  ordinary  observer  for  Clairvoyance.  Sensitive 
persons  are  also  liable  to  receive  similar  impressions — more 
or  less  reliable— from  such  other  objects  as  may  be  submit- 
ted to  them  for  inspection,  and  about  which  they  may  chance 
to  feel  a passing  interest.  This  power  of  perception  often 
discovers  the  most  subtile  properties  of  matter,  at  the  same 
time  it  detects  personal  qualities  of  the  most  delicate  nature, 
and  private  experiences  which  require  concealment,  though 
they  may  not  escape  detection.  In  this  state,  tlie  sensibility 
of  the  subject  may  be  so  acute  that  he  will  almost  instantly 
perceive  the  medicinal  properties  of  a drug,  as  soon  as  a small 
portion  of  the  same  (which  may  be  inclosed  in  a wrapper 
and  invisible)  is  placed  in  the  hand.  Give  liim  either  a cra- 
vat or  a finger-ring,  tliat  a thief  has  worn,  and  lie  will  find 
the  culprit  without  other  warrant  or  the  aid  of  a })olicoman. 
An  old  shoe  will  enable  him  to  track  the  fugitive  from  jus- 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


370 


tice  ; from  an  antQfrraph  he  will  delineate  the  character  of  a 
stranger,  and  a lock  of  hair  from  the  head  of  a sick  person — 
of  whose  existence  he  liad  no  previous  knowledge — may  be 
all  that  he  requires,  and  he  will  put  the  doctor  to  shame  by 
the  superior  accuracy  of  his  diagnosis. 

But  in  tlie  occurrence  of  such  phenomena  there  may  be 
no  positive  evidence  of  the  development  of  the  Clairvoyant 
Vision,  This  exquisite  and  semi-spiritual  sensation  usually 
corresponds  to  feeling  rather  than  sight.  But  if  one  of  the 
senses  may  be  instrumental  in  this  mysterious  power  of  cog- 
nition, it  is  a fair  inference  that  the  others  may  be  capable 
of  a similar  use,  and  this  conclusion  will  be  supported  by  the 
introduction  of  such  facts  as  clearly  demonstrate  the  exist- 
ence of  that  sublime  faculty,  in  the  exercise  of  which  the 
Seer  stands  alone  within  the  veil  of  the  Temple. 

Illustrations  of  my  subject  may  be  found  among  all  the 
races  of  men,  and  every  period  of  human  history  has  fur- 
nished examples.  Neither  the  forms  of  government  nor  the 
systems  of  religion  have  power  to  change  the  essential  con- 
stitution of  the  Soul.  On  the  contrary,  all  human  institu- 
tions are  but  outward  expressions  and  organic  revelations  of 
whatever  belongs  to  the  nature  of  Man.  The  Egyptians  had 
their  sacred  mysteries  ; the  Roman  Senate  consulted  the 
Sibylline  Oracles  ; the  G-reeks  found  inspiration  in  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Castalian  Spring  ; the  Priestess  of  Delphi  gave 
clairvoyant  responses  ; and  the  Jewish  high  priest  derived 
his  mystical  revelations  from  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  which 
bore  a striking  likeness  to  the  Pagan  Oracles. 

A Christian  Apostle  says  that,  “ G-od  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,’’  and  Nature  also  inculcates  the  same  doctrine  ; but 

24 


380 


\ 

MAX  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 

agreeably  to  the  common  notion  of  the  Christian  world,  he 
has  a peculiar  respect  for  the  Jews,  who  are  especially  as- 
sociated— at  least  in  the  popular  conception— with  all  the 
most  sacred  realities  of  time  and  eternity.  Even  the  man  of 
varied  scientific  attainments  is  often  led,  by  the  force  of  his 
early  theological  education,  to  accredit  the  ancient  Hebrews 
with  the  possession  of  the  most  remarkable  gifts  and  divine 
graces,  Avhile  he  may  be  slow  in  recognizing  the  existence  of 
such  powers  and  accomplishments  elsewhere  among  men. 
Even  when  the  identical  faculties  are  manifested,  by  similar 
methods,  and  in  our  immediate  presence,  the  results  are  often 
regarded  as  the  tricks  of  the  juggler.  Indeed,  we  often  meet 
with  persons  of  easy  faith,  little  learning  and  less  reflection, 
who  are  quite  disposed  to  give  the  Jews  a monopoly  of  all 
spiritual  faculties  and  divine  endowments.  I can  not  enter- 
tain this  unphilosophical  view  of  the  subject.  The  faculties 
and  susceptibilities  of  the  Soul  are  fundamentally  the  same 
in  all  ages  and  countries,  and  therefore  Man’s  relation  to 
the  invisible  sources  of  all  inspired  thoughts  and  ideas  can 
neither  be  determined  by  geographical  lines,  nor  otherwise 
limited  by  national  distinctions. 

The  early  Apostles,  and  many  of  the  Christian  Fathers 
and  disciples  in  the  Church,  for  more  than  three  hundred 
years,  were  gifted  with  the  mysterious  vision  that  compre- 
hends foreign  persons  and  objects,  while  it  often  detects  the 
shadows  of  coming  events.  This  interior  sight  appeared  to 
coexist  with  the  natural  vision  of  Jesus,  and  it  was  often 
either  the  source  or  the  medium  of  ini})ortant  information. 
When  he  was  about  to  make  his  triumphal  entry  into  Je- 
rusalem, he  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to  a neigliboring  hamlet. 

'WT  i’-i.  i-O  j rtf  ^ /*J  S //t 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


381 


assuring  them  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  village  they  would 
lind  a colt  tied.  He  anticipated  the  objection  that  would 
be  made  on  their  attempting  to  take  the  animal  away  ; he 
instructed  them  what  to  say,  and  affirmed  that  the  objector 
would  acquiesce.  The  disciples  went  their  way,  and  the  re- 
sult confirmed  the  statement  of  their  Master.  On  another 
occasion  he  directed  certain  fishermen  when  and  where  to 
cast  their  nets  in  the  Lake.  Following  his  suggestions,  it  is 
said  that  they  filled  two  ships,  so  that  they  were  in  danger 
of  sinking.  (Luke,  chap.  v.  6-9.)  Again,  he  saw  Nathaniel 
under  a fig-tree  when  the  latter  was  far  beyond  the  limit  of 
natural  vision.  (John,  chap,  i : 48-50.)  In  his  interesting 
interview  with  the  woman  at  the  well,  this  power  was  dis- 
played in  reading  her  thoughts,  and  in  such  specific  references 
to  the  incidents  of  her  personal  history  that,  in  her  report,  the 
woman  said,  “ Come,  see  a man  which  told  me  all  things  that 
ever-I  did.”  (John,  chap,  iv.)  Once  more,  when  his  friend 
Lazarus  fell  into  a deathlike  slumber,  he  was  not  personally 
present  in  loco  ; but  he  at  once  perceived  what  had  occurred, 
and  said  to  the  disciples  that  accompanied  him,  “ Our  friend 
Lazarus  sleepeth  : but  I go  that  I may  awake  him  out  of 
sleep.”  (John,  chap,  xi.)  The  same  faculty  was  exercised  by 
St.  Peter  in  discovering  the  deception  and  falsehood  of  Ana- 
nias and  his  wife,  in  respect  to  the  price  of  some  property 
which  they  had  sold.  (Acts,  chap,  v.) 

We  have  the  history  of  some  grand  exhibitions  of  this 
power  in  the  lives  of  the  old  Prophets.  . When  the  King  of 
Syria  made  war  against  Israel,  he  soon  learned  that  by  some 
means  the  latter  was  familiar  with  all  his  plans,  and  was  ac- 
cordingly prepared  to  check  every  hostile  movement.  Fob 


382 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS, 


lowing  the  natural  tendencies  of  his  mind,  the  Syrian  king 
inferred  that  there  must  be  some  traitor  in  his  camp,  and, 

^ calling  his  servants  together,  he  demanded  to  know  who  was 
for  the  King  of  Israel  ? One  of  the  number  thereupon  an- 
swered, “None,  my  lord,  0 king;  but  Elisha,  the  prophet 
that  is  in  Israel,  telleth  the  King  of  Israel  the  words  that 
thou  speakest  in  thy  bed-chamber/’  (II.  Kings,  chap.  vi.  : 
12.)  Here  was  a clairvoyance  that  was  neither  obstructed  by 
intervening  obstacles  nor  otherwise  limited  by  darkness  or 
distance  ; a clairaudience  that  detected  the  whispered  words 
and  silent  thoughts  of  the  King  of  Syria.  By  the  Same  su- 
pernal vision  he  discovered  the  celestial  combatants  assem- 
bled for  his  protection,  when  the  Syrians,  under  cover  of 
darkness,  had  encamped  about  the  city.  The  Syrian  armies 
presented  a formidable  array  that  alarmed  the  servant  of 
Elisha ; but  the  Prophet,  and  subsequently  the  servant,  be- 
held a far  more  numerous  host,  moving  in  fiery  chariots  over 
the  mountains  and  filling  all  the  air.  These  illustrations  of 
the  spiritual  power  of  cognition  comprehend  alike  the  per- 
ception of  remote  and  invisible  objects;  distant  event?  and 
circumstances  ; and  the  interior  forces  and  immortal  entities 
of  the  unseen  world. 

But  the  faculty  which  distinguished  the  ancient  Prophets 
and  Apostles  of  Judaism  and  Christianity  was  neither  con- 
fined to  them  nor  limited  to  tlieir  nation.  The  Pagan  world 
was  favored  with  a similar  illumination.  The  Greeks,  esjie- 
cially,  furnished  distinguislied  examples.  If  wo  may  ci-cdit 
the  records  of  authentic  history,  tliis  power  was  constantly 
exercised  by  the  Oracles.  On  one  occasion,  Croesus,  desir- 
ing to  test  the  capabilities  of  the  Pythoness,  dispatched  suit- 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


383 


able  persons  to  Delphi  with  instructions  to  consult  the  Ora- 
cle, on  a 'particulcur  day^  and,  if  possible,  to  ascertain  what 
he  (the  King  of  Lydia)  was  doing.  Having  obtained  an  in- 
terview, the  messengers  submitted  the  question  as  directed, 
which  at  once  elicited  the  following — the  oracular  response 
being  uttered  in  hexametric  verse  : 

“ I know  the  number  of  the  sands,  and  the  measure  of  the  sea  ; I know  ^ 
what  the  dumb  would  say  ; I hear  him  who  speaks  not.  There  comes  to  me 
the  odor  of  tortoise  and  lamb’s  flesh,  seething  together  in  a brass  vessel ; 
beneath  the  flesh  is  brass  ; there  is  also  brass  above.” 

When  the  representatives  of  the  king  returned,  Croesus 
read  the  message  and  was  satisfied.  “ For,’’  according  to 
Herodotus,  “ after  the  messenger  had  been  sent  to  consult 
the  Oracle,  on  the  appointed  day,  he  hit  upon  the  following 
to  be  done,  as  something  which  he  supposed  might  be  diffi- 
cult to  detect  and  describe  : — Cutting  up  a tortoise  and  a 
lamb,  he  boiled  them  together  in  a brazen  vessel,,  which  also 
had  a cover  of  brass.” 

The  Emperor  Trajan,  being  about  to  invade  Parthia,  and 
wishing  to  know  the  probable  result  of  his  expedition,  took 
the  precaution  to  first  test  the  powers  of  a celebrated  Oracle 
in  Syria,  before  accepting  its  authority  in  a matter  of  so 
much  importance.  For  this  purpose  he  sent  sealed  letters, 
to  which  he  solicited  replies  in  writing.  The  Oracle  di- 
rected that  blank  papers  should  be  sealed  and  sent.  This 
occasioned  no  little  surprise  among  the  priests,  who  were 
unacquainted  with  the  character  of  the  Emperor’s  letters. 
Trajan  at  once^  comprehended  the  answer,  because  he  had 
sent  blank  tablets  to  the  god.  This  inspired  his  confidence, 
and  he  then  forwarded  letters  inquiring  whether  he  should 


384 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


return  to  Rome  at  the  close  of  the  contest.  Thereupon  the 
Oracle  commanded  that  a vine  should  be  cut  in  pieces,  wrapt 
in  linen,  and  carried  to  him.  This  symbolic  answer  was 
signally  verified  when  the  bones  of  the  Emperor  were  at 
length  carried  back  to  Rome. ' 

Pythagoras,  the  beautiful  Seer  of  Samos,  who  was  re- 
^ garded  with  deep  and  tender  reverence,  even  by  the  philoso- 
phers who  succeeded  him,  spent  more  than  thirty  years  of 
his  life  with  the  Magi  of  Egypt  and  Babylon.  He  returned 
to  Samos,  skilled  in  all  the  learning  of  his  time,  and  there 
founded  a school.  The  purity  of  his  principles  and  his  life, 
not  less  than  the  beauty  of  his  person  and  the  simplicity  of 
his  manners,  inspired  in  others  the  highest  admiration  and 
the  purest  love.  His  birth  was  predicted  by  the  Oracle  of 
Apollo,  as  his  name  implies  ; and  a Samian  poet  sings  : 

“ Pythals,  fairest  of  the  Samian  race, 

Bore,  from  the  embraces  of  the  god  of  day, 

Renowned  Pythagoras,  the  friend  of  Jove.” 

It  was  prophesied  that  he  would  “surpass  in  beauty  and 
wisdom  all  that  ever  lived,’’  and  his  biographer  asserts  that 
“ when  he  exerted  all  the  powers  of  his  intellect,  Iw  easily  be- 
held every  thing,  as  far  as  ten  or  tiventy  ages  of  the  human 
raeeP  The  authentic  record  of  his  life  contains  some  sig- 
nificant facts  that  illustrate  his  powers  as  a seer.  On  one 
occasion  he  gave  an  accurate  description  of  a shipwreck, 
concerning  which  he  had  no  information  tlirough  any  ordi- 
nary or  external  channel.  Again,  when  drinking  from  a 
well,  he  announced  the  speedy*  occurrence  of  an  earthquake, 
and  his  statement  was  immediately  confirmed  by  the  fact. 


The  Apocatastasis,”  p.  GL  See  also  Macrobius  Satunuil.  L.  i.  c.  23. 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


385 


When  certain  persons  in  liis  presence  expressed  a wish  to 
possess  the  treasures  which  they  supposed  a certain  ship  to 
contain,  that  was  just  then  coming  into  port,  Pythagoras  as- 
sured them  that  they  would  only  have  a dead  body ; and  in  this 
he  was  strictly  correct,  a corpse  being  the  entire  freight  of 
the  vessel.  With  all  his  knowledge  of  the  occult  powers  of 
Nature  and  tlie  mysteries  of  the  Magi,  he  was  accomplished 
in  Music,  and  “ invented  an  instrument  to  measure  musical 
intervals  and  the  lyre.’’  He  was,  moreover,  a profound  ma- 
thematician and  the  great  astronomer  of  his  age  and  country. 
It  is  alleged,  on  eminent  historical  authority,  that  he  an- 
nounced the  Copernican  theory,  so  that  the  sphericity  of  the 
earth,  its  rotary  motion,  and  revolution  round  the  center  of 
our  solat*  system  may  have  been  clairvoyant  discoveries  five 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  Erao 

Apollonius  discovered  his  own  clairvoyant  powers  while 
in  India,  through  the  agency  of  a distinguished  Brahmin, 
who  was  both  a philosopher  and  a Seer.  Having  perfected 
his  education  in  the  Sanscrit  language,  and  in  the  sacred 
mysteries  of  that  country,  Apollonius  returned  to  be  a popu- 
lar teacher.  In  his  public  discourses  his  remarkable  psychi- 
cal powers  were  often  displayed  in  a striking  manner.  On 
one  occasion,  while  in  the  Island  of  Crete,  he  suddenly  ex- 
claimed, “ The  sea  is  bringing  forth  land  !”  It  was  subse- 
quently ascertained  that,  precisely  at  that  hour,  an  island  ap- 
peared in  the  H]gean  Sea,  not  far  off,  it  having  been  thrown 
up  by  an  earthquake.  Another  interesting  illustration  of 
his  powers  occurred  while  lie  was  addressing  a crowd  in  a 
grove  near  Ephesus.  The  attention  of  his  auditors  was  at- 
tracted by  a flock  of  birds  on  a tree.  At  length  a solitary 


386 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


bird  alighted  near  them  for  a moment,  whose  peculiar  note 
appeared  to  be  the  signal  which  caused  the  whole  flock  to  fly 
away.  This  occasioned  an  interruption  of  the  discourse, 
' and  Apollonius  remarked  that  a boy,  near  one  of  the  gates 
of  the  city — the  name  and  direction  of  which  were  given — 
had  spilled  a quantity  of  grain,  and  that  this  solitary  bird 
observing  this  came  to  inform  his  companions  of  the  feast. 
Apollonius  continued  his  discourse,  while  a number  of  his 
hearers  hastened  to  ascertain  if  he  had  spoken  the  truth, 
fl  he  Seer  had  not  flnislied  his  address  when  they  returned 
witti  enthusiastic  expressions  of  admiration,  having  verified 
the  correctness  of  his  statement.^ 

At  a later  period,  while  discoursing  at  Ephesus  one  day, 
he  paused  abruptly,  as  if  the  train  of  thought  had  been  sud- 
denly interrupted,  or  as  when  one  is  at  a loss  for  a word. 
After  a moments  hesitation,  he  exclaimed,  “ Strike ! strike 
the  tyrant This  eccentric  conduct  surprised  the  people, 
and  excited  no  little  curiosity,  wliereupon  Apollonius  ex- 
plained b}  saying,  in  substance,  “ Courage,  my  friends,  for 
tliis  very  day — nay,  at  the  very  moment  I stopped  speaking 
the  tyrant  was  slain.’’  As  soon  as  intelligence  could  be  re- 
ceived from  Rome  this  statement  was  confirmed,  Domitian, 
the  reigning  tyrant,  having  been  assassinated  at  that  hour. 
(Idem,  L.  VIIL,  C.  26.) 

St.  Augustine,  who  maintained  tliat  demons  have  power 
to  read  men’s  thoughts,  gives  circumstantial  accounts  of  cases 
of  clairvoyance  that  came  under  his  personal  observation. 
Among  others,  he  refers  to  a presbyter  who  was  en  rapport 
with  a sick  person  at  the  distance  of  twelve  miles.  The 


* riiiloslnit.us  Vita  A})ollouii  Tyunensis,  L.  iv.  3. 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION, 


387 


})atient  was  clairvoyant,  and  would  indicate  the  precise 
that  tl?e  presbyter  left  his  house,  and  accurately  mark  his  pro- 
^rress  and  near  approach.  At  length  he  would  say,  “ He  is 
entering  the  farm — he  has  reached  the  house — he  is  at  the 
door and  at  that  moment  he  was  sure  to  find  the  visitor 
standing  in  his  presence.  St.  Augustine  took  an  interest  in 
such  phenomena,  but  entreated  that  the  learned  would  not 
ridicule  him  for  his  credulity,  at  the  same  time  he  does  not 
ask  the  unlearned  to  accept  what  he  is  pleased  to  offer  on 
his  individual  authority.^ 

The  ancient  Day  was  characterized  by  its  own  peculiar  j 
glory  ; but  the  light  was  obscured,  and  deep,  cold  shadows 
fell  on  the  world  when  the  great  Philosophers  of  Antiquity  ’ 
and  the  Apostles  of  Christianity  retired  from  human  obser- 
vation. Serene  in  spirit,  and  calm  in  their  divine  repose  ; 
invested  with  more  than  mortal  powers  and  regal  honors, 
they  went  up  to  their  great  Immortality.  Then  came  a long 
— long  Night,  xifter  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century 
the  human  soul  seemed  to  be  destitute  of  any  true  spiritual 
illumination.  The  mind  slept ; while  darkness  was  on  the 
face  of  the  deep.  And  many  a doubting  mortal  watched  his 
brief  hour,  and  thought  that  Night  would  never  end.  And 
when  the  hour— the  sad,  short  hour— of  earthly  being  had 
passed,  with  no  light  but  the  faint  glimmering  of  the  silent 
stars,  the  watcher  went  to  his  repose  ; and  another — silent, 
lonely  and  desolate — sat  in  his  place.  Thus  wore  the  long 
Night  away,  until  the  Era  of  Universal  Light,  Liberty,  and  ■ 
Progress  dawned  on  the  World. 

Since  the  revival  of  letters,  the  amazing  developments  of  , 

^ 

A See  “Notes  and  Queries,”  for  June,  1854. 


388 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


modern  science,  art  and  civilization  have  served  to  quicken 
and  strengthen  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  among 
all  enlightened  nations.  To  these  developments  we  are 
chiefly  indebted  for  the  gradual  dissipation  of  many  absurd 
superstitions  and  pernicious  errors,  all  generated  in  igno- 
rance and  nursed  in  the  bosom  of  the  Medieval  Ages.  But 
with  the  well-grounded  hope  of  true  human  advancement, 
which  this  change  in  the  state  and  tendencies  of  the  human 
mind  naturally  inspired,  it  soon  became  painfully  apparent, 
that  the  more  vital  and  essential  principles  of  the  popular 
faith  were  fast  losing  their  place  in  the  minds  and  their 
hold  on  the  affections  of  the  people.  A growing  skepti- 
cism was  everywhere  visible,  especially  among  the  more  en- 
lightened classes.  A material  philosophy,  that  boldly  threat- 
ened to  overthrow  our  hopes  of  immortality,. occupied  the 
places  of  honor  and  responsibility,  and  even  stood  within 
the  pale  of  the  Church.  But  the  elements  of  the  Inward 
Life  were  soon  moved  by  the  mental  and  moral  forces  of  the 
New  Era,  and  outwardly  manifested  in  many  striking  exam- 
ples. The  frequent  and  orderly  development  of  the  psychical 
faculties,  at  that  period,  was  only  a natural  consequence  of 
the  general  awakening  of -the  human  mind.  Indeed,  such 
illustrations  are  old  as  history  ; diversified  as  tlie  cliaracter- 
i sties  of  races  and  nations,  and  as  widely  distributed  as  the 
human  inhabitants  of  the  earth. 

One  of  the  greatest  Seers  of  modern  times  was  Emanuel 
Swedenborg,  of  Stockholm.  The  Swedish  Baron  was  born 
as  early  as  1688,  but  Ids  mysterious  illumination  did  not  oc- 
cur until  1743.  He  was  then  fifty-five  yeai’S  old  ; and  his 
high  character,  not  less  than  his  profound  attainments  in 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


3«0 


every  department  of  learning,  had  given  him  a most  honor- 
able position  in  his  own  country,  and  a commanding'  influence 
abroad,  that  was  felt  and  acknowledged  in  every  part  of 
Europe.  Among  the  recorded  instances  of  his  clairvoyance 
are  many  striking  illustrations  of  my  subject,  but  in  this 
connection  I can  only  make  a brief  resume  of  some  of  the 
more  remarkable  examples. 

It  is  alleged  by  M.  Dieudonne  Thiebault,  Professor  of  Belles 
Letters  in  the  Eoyal  Academy  of  Berlin,  that  the  Count  de 
Montville,  Ambassador  from  Holland  to  Stockholm,  having 
died  suddenly,  a shopkeeper  demanded  of  his  widow  the  pay- 
ment of  a bill,  which  she  remembered  had  been  paid  in  her 
husband’s  lifetime.  Not  being  able  to  find  the  shopkeeper’s 
receipt,  she  was  induced  to  consult  the  distinguished  Seer, 
though  she  did  so  less  from  credulity  than  cui'iosity.  Swed- 
enborg informed  her  that  her  deceased  husband  had  taken 
the  shopkeeper’s  receipt  on  a certain  day  (also  naming  the 
hour),  while  he  was  reading  such  an  article  in  Bayle’s  Dic- 
tionary, in  his  cabinet  ; and  that  his  attention  being  called 
immediately  to  some  other  concern,  he  put  the  receipt  into 
the  book  to  mark  the  place  at  which  he  left  off ; where,  in 
fact,  it  was  found  at  the  page  described ! 

The  Queen  Dowager  of  Sweden,  Louisa  Ulrica,  desiring 
to  test  the  powers  of  Swedenborg,  demanded  a repetition  of 
the  words  spoken  by  her  deceased  brother,  the  Prince  Royal 
of  Prussia,  at  the  moment  of  her  taking  leave  of  him  for  the 
Court  of  Stockholm.  The  Seer  requested  a private  audience, 
whereupon  they  retired  to  another  apartment,  when  Sweden- 
borg replied  to  her  interrogatory  by  saying,  in  substance, 
that  she  took  leave  of  her  august  brother  at  Charlottenburg 


390 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


— naming  the  day  and  the  hour — that,  while  passing  through 
the  long  gallery  of  the  Castle,  they  met  again,  when  the 
Prince,  taking  her  hand,  led  her  to  a retired  situation  by  a 
particular  window  which  he  described,  where  the  last  words 
were  spoken.  The  Queen  did  not  disclose  the  words,  but 
protested  with  great  solemnity,  that  they  were  the  precise 
words  pronounced  by  her  brother  at  the  termination  of  their 
parting  interview  ! 

When  Swedenborg  was  in  Gottenburg,  three  hundred 
miles  from  Stockholm,  he  announced  the  occurrence  of  a 
great  fire  in  his  native  city,  giving  the  facts  respecting  the 
time,  place,  and  circumstances  of  its  origin,  and  accurately 
describing  its  progress  and  termination.  It  was  on  Saturday 
night  that  this  conflagration  was  described  as  occurring  at 
that  time.  The. Seer  repeated  the  substance  of  his  state- 
ment to  the  Governor  on  Sunday  morning.  This  was  sub- 
stantially confirmed  by  a dispatch,  received  from  Gotten- 
burg on  Monday  evening,  and  on  Tuesday  morning  the  ar- 
rival of  the  royal  courier  furnished  an  unqualified  attesta- 
tion of  the  truth  of  all  the  particulars  of  the  clairvoyant 
revelation.  <^hese  facts  rest  on  no  doubtful  authority.  Their 
authenticity  is  sanctioned  by  Kant,  the  groat  German  meta- 
physician, in  whose  judgment— to  use  his  own  words — they 
“ set  the  assertion  of  the  extraordinary  gift  of  Swedenborg 
out  of  all  possibility  of  doubt.’^ 

Tlie  state  of  inward  waking  and  the  same  remarkable 
powers  of  perception,  were  soon  illustrated  by  examples  oc- 
curring in  Germany  and  elsewhere.  In  the  little  village  of 
Prevorst— situated  far  up  among  the  mountains,  near  the 
town  of  Ldwenstcin- Frederica  Ilaufle  was  born  in  1801. 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


391 


Secluded  from  the  great  world  among  the  rugged  summits 
of  W Urtemburg,  her  young  life  was  characterized  by  great 
simplicity.  She  was  an  uncorrupted  child  of  Nature,  en- 
dowed with  remarkable  powers  of  perception,  and  with  a 
mind  that  was  all  unclouded  by  the  superficial  arts  and  per- 
nicious customs  of  fashionable  society.  At  an  early  age  she 
had  prophetic  dreams  and  presentiments ; and  it  is  said  by 
her  conscientious  biographer,  that  she  discovered  hidden 
springs  and  mineral  deposits  by  some  occult  power. 

The  singular  powers  of  Frederica  increased  as  she  ad- 
vanced in  years.  Her  extreme  susceptibility  of  impressions, 
even  from  remote  objects  and  events,  enabled  her  to  perceive 
absent  persons  and  distant  occurrences,  often  with  great  dis- 
tinctness. ’ Though  her  early  mental  culture  was  extremely 
limited,  she  displayed  unusual  knowledge  of  many  profound 
subjects,  and  her  clairvoyant  revelations  were  curious  and 
instructive.  Moreover,  her  whole  experience  contributed  to 
give  her  an  unusual  moral  elevation,  to  inspire  constant  de- 
votional feeling,  and  to  fashion  a truly  religious  character. 
Her  gifts  continued,  arid  her  vision  was  unclouded  until  the 
fifth  of  August,  1829,  when  suddenly — at  the  tepth  hour  of 

I Leibnitz  and  Yon  Helmont  said  : “The  soul  is  a mirror  of  the  Uni- 
verse and  the  Seeress  of  Prevorst,  in  the  elucidation  of  her  Sun-circle, 
says  : The  life-circle,  which  is  the  soul,  lies  under  the  sun- circle,  and  thus 
becomes  a mirror  to  it.  So  long  as  the  soul  continues  in  the  center,  she 
sees  all  round  her — into  the  past,  the  future,  and  the  infinite.  She  sees  the 
world  in  all  its  laws,  relations  and  properties,  which  are  implanted  in  it 
through  time  and  space.  She  sees  all  this  without  veil  or  partition- wall 
interposing.  But  in  proportion  as  the  soul  is  drawn  from  the  center,  by  the 
attractions  of  the  outer  world,  she  advances  into  darkness,  and  loses  this 
all-embracing  vision  and  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  properties  of  all 
that  surrounds  her.  This  insight  is  now  given  to  us  in  the  magnetic  sleep, 
when  we  are  withdrawn  from  the  senses ! — History  oj  the  Supernatural,  p.  79. 


392 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


the  day— she  experienced  a new  illumination,  and,  in  an  ec- 
stacy  of  joy  and  with  a cry  of  triumph,  her  enfranchised  soul 
left  the  earthly  temple  its  presence  had  glorified. 

During  the  War  of  Independence,  Dr.  George  de  Bonne- 
ville exhibited  remarkable  prescience  and  unerring  knowl- 
edge of  certain  events  occurring  at  a distance,  and  beyond 
the  utmost  stretch  of  the  ordinary  powers  of  perception. 
While  in  Reading,  Pa. — where  he  lived  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary period — he  informed  his  friends  and  neighbors  of 
the  precise  time  that  the  British  forces  evacuated  Philadel- 
})hia.  Jacob  Bojime  and  the  good  Jung  Stilling  experienced 
a similar  illumination  in  their  time  ; and  Heinrich  Zschokke, 
a popular  German  author,  became  a waking  Seer  of  extra- 
ordinary powers.  He  read  the  unwritten  histories  of  stran- 
gers as  they  approached  him,  including  the  most  secret  trans- 
actions of  their  lives.  This  mysterious  illumination  disclosed 
the  dresses  and  movements  of  the  actors  ; also  the  rooms, 
furniture,  and  oilier  accessories.  For  a long  time  he  was 
prone  to  regard  such  visions  as  delusions  of  the  fancy,  or  a 
kind  of  mental  jugglery,  and  he  felt  an  involuntary  shudder 
as  often  as  his  auditors  confirmed  Ms  statements.  I subjoin 
(somewhat  condensed)  Zschokke’s  description  of  a single 
illustration  of  his  powers  : 

“la  company  with  two  young  student- foresters,  I entered  the  Vine  Inn, 
at  Waldshut.  We  supped  with  a numerous  company  at  the  table  d'hote^ 
where  the  guests  were  making  merry  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  Swi?s, 
with  Mesmer’s  magnetism,  Lavater’s  physiognomy,  etc.  One  of  my  com- 
panions, whose  national  pride  was  wounded,  begged  mo  to  make  some 
reply,  particularly  to  a handsome  young  man  opposite  to  me,  and  who  al- 
lowed himself  extraordinary  license.  This  man’s  life  was  at  that  moment 
presented  to  my  mind.  I asked  him  whether  he  would  answer  me  candidly 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


393 


if!  relatod  to  blrn  some  of  the  most  sf>cret  passages  of  his  life,  1 knowing  as 
little  of  him  personally  as  he  did  of  me  ? That  would  be  going  a little  fur- 
ther than  Lavater  did  with  his  physiognomy  He  promised,  if  I were  correct, 
to  admit  it  frankly.  I then  related  what  my  vision  had  shown,  and  the 
whole  company  were  made  acquainted  with  the  private  history  of  the  young 
merchant ; his  school-years,  his  youthful  errors,  and  lastly,  with  a fault  com- 
mitted in  reference  to  the  strong-box  of  his  principal.  I described  to  him 
the  uninhabited  room  with  whitened  walls,  where,  to  the  right  of  the  browm 
door,  on  a table,  stood  a black  money-box,  etc.  A dead  silence  prevailed 
during  the  narrative,  which  I alone  occasiojially  interrupted  by  inquiring 
w'hether  I spoke  the  truth?  The  young  man  confirmed  every  particular. 
Touched  by  his  candor,  I shook  hands  with  him,  and  said  no  more.7 

The  Provost  Marshal  of  Pithiviers,  while  playing  cards 
with  some  friends,  suddenly  paused  in  the  game,  at  4 o’clock 
p.  M. ; he  appeared  to  be  abstracted  for  a moment,  and  then 
exclaimed,  “ The  King  is  just  murdered !”  On  the  same 
afternoon — in  the  village  of  Patay,  near  Orleans — a young 
girl,  of  some  fourteen  years,  named  Simonne,  inquired  of 
her  father  who  the  King  was  ? On  being  answered  that  he 
was  the  chief  person  in  France,  whom  the  people  were  all 
bound  to  obey,  the  child  exclaimed,  “ Good  gracious ! that 
man  has  just  been  slain!”  Pithiviers  and  Orleans  are  at  a 
distance  of  several  hundred  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  tragic 
occurrence.’  D’Aubigne  (Memoirs  Collection  de  Panthdon, 
p.  513j  speaks  of  a man,  in  his  service,  who  exhibited  the 
same  faculty  in  an  eminent  degree,  tie'  could  communicate, 
respecting  any  stranger,  the  particulars  of  his  birth-place, 
family  connections,  situation  in  life,  and  his  thoughts  at  the 
time.  He  reported  what  Henry  IV.  of  France  was  doing 

1 Richelieu  Memoirs  Colb-'ction  Michaud  Ponjoulat,  Second  Series,  Vol. 
VII.,  p.  23.  Ferty’s  Mystical  Revelations  of  Human  Nature. 


894 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


on  a particular  day  and  hour  ; named  the  persons  in  his 
suite  and  company  ; and  he  also  announced  the  time  and 
manner  of  the  King’s  death  before  it  occurred.^ 

/ Dr.  Garcia  bad  a patient,  by  the  name  of  Michael,  who 
could  induce  the  magnetic  sleep  ad  libitum.  As  often  as 
some  absent  person  was  named,  Michael  would  give  a very 
accurate  description  of  both  the  person  and  character.  His 
vision  extended  to  foreign  countries,  and  embraced  persons 
and  their  actions,  together  with  other  objects  and  their  rela- 
tions. On  one  occasion  he  was  directed  to  visit  a certain 
Castle,  and  to  report  his  discoveries.  The  liour  was  ten 
o’clock,  p.  M.,  when  he  saw  four  persons  playing  cards,  and 
he  gave  a full  description  of  their  persons  and  vestments. 
In  like  manner  he  also  witnessed  the  storming  of  Constan- 
tine, in  Algiers,  and  announced  the  death  of  General  Dam- 
remont,  who  fell  in  the  first  breach.  In  the  year  1833,  he 
gave  a full  aud  graphic  account  of  the  loss  of  tlie  ship 
Lilloise,  and  so  real  was  the  scene  tliat  at  tlie  moment  he 
appeared  to  suffer  from  intense  cold,  and  to  experience  all 
the  hardships  to  which  the  crew  were  subjected,  and  as  they 
were  subsequently  reported  by  the  actual  sufferers. ^ (Idem, 
p.  583.)  Debay,  in  his  “ Mysteries  of  the  Magnetic  Sleep,” 

1 See  PorLy’s  Mystical  Revelations  of  Human  Nature,  p.  583. 

2 A similar  case  occurred  some  years  since  in  presence  of  the  "writer, 
Mrs.  Harriet  Porter,  witaessing  in  a vision  the  destruction  of  a steamboat 
on  the  Hudson  river.  While  seated  in  her  room  at  Bridgeport,  Connecti- 
cut, she  declared  that  the  steamer  Henry  Clay  "was  on  fire  ; and  that,  with 
the  other  objects  presentccl,  she  could  distinctly  see  the  village  of  Yonkers. 
The  sad  catastrophe  was  described  at  length  as  if  it  were  occurring  in  the 
immediate  presence  of  the  Seeress.  The  next  morning  the  New  York 
papers  contained  the  particulars  of  that  disaster,  from  which  it  appeared 
that  her  description  of  the  thrilling  scene  and  the  actual  occurrence  were— 
in  respect  to  the  essential  facts  and  the  precise  time — in  strict  coincidence. 


TIIR  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


395 


page  61,  mentions  the  clairvoyant  vision  of  Mrs.  De  Saulco. 
The  ladv  was  in  the  midst  of  a great  assembly  of  the  fasli- 
ionable  world,  in  the  city  of' Paris,  when  she  suddenly  fell 
back  in  her  chair,  with  the  exclamation,  “ My  God,  Mr.  De 
Saulce  [her  husband]  is  dead The  terrible  reality  of  her 
vision  was  soon  confirmed  by  information  through  the  ordi- 
nary channels,  Mr.  De  Saulce  having  been  killed  at  that 
time  by  the  negroes  in  Saint  Domingo.  (Idem,  p.  581.) 

An  interesting  clairvoyant  revelation  was  made  in  Scot- 
land on  the  17th  day  of  February,  1851.  Letters  written  by 
Captain  Austin  and  Sir  John  Franklin  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a Lady,  who  was  at  the  time  magnetically  entranced. 
On  being  questioned  concerning  the  respective  positions  and 
circumstances  of  those  Arctic  explorers,  she  stated  that 
Captain  xlustin  was  at  that  hour  in  longitude  95^  45'  west ; 
that  Sir  John  Franklin  was,  at  the  same  time,  in  longitude 
101®  45',  or  about  four  hundred  miles  from  the  former,  in  a 
westerly  direction  ; that  the  latter  had  been  previously  re- 
lieved, and  that  the  relief  ship  and  his  two  vessels  were  fast 
in  the  ice.  These  statements  were  noticed  at  the  time  in 
several  foreign  journals,  and  they  also  appeared  in  a work  by 
the  late  Dr.  Gregory,  of  the  University  of  Edinburg,  where 
they  will  be  found  on  page  306  of  tlie  American  edition. 
The  book  was  published  long  before  the  return  of  Captain 
Austin’s  Expedition.  The  revelations  of  this  Scotch  Seeress 
were  at  length  confirmed  by  the  most  positive  evidence.  In 
tlie  London  Times,  of  the  date  of  September  12th,  Captain 
Austin’s  report  will  be  found  in  extenso,  from  which  it  ap- 
pears, that  from  the  14th  of  February,  1851,  until  after  the 
18th  of  that  month,  he  was  confined  in  the  ice  between  Cape 


396 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Mart}^r  and  Griffith  Island.  By  referring  to  Johnson’s  Map 
of  the  Arctic  Zones,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  place  named 
in  the  Captain’s  report  is  in  longitude  95^^  45’  west  from 
Greenwich.  ’ 

Alexis  claims  attention  as,  perhaps,  the  most  distinguished 
magnetic  sleeper  and  Seer  in  Europe.  For  several  years  he 
has  entertained  the  curious  and  astonished  the  savans  by  the 
illustrations  of  his  Clairvoyance.  With  thick  masses  of  cot- 
ton bound  over  his  eyes,  so  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
his  seeing  in  the  ordinary  way,  he  plays  various  games  with 
experts,  and  usually  wins.  The  Paris  correspondent  of  our 
Daily  Times^  in  1 853,  had  an  interview  with  Alexis,  at  an 
American  saloon  in  Paris.  In  this  particular  case  the  proofs 
of  a clear  and  independent  sight  were  so  numerous  and  con- 
vincing that  the  skepticism  of  several  gentlemen  gave  way 
to  rational  convictions.  A brief  extract  will  suffice  to  indi- 
cate the  nature  of  the  phenomena  on  that  occasion  : 

“ Alexis  played  a game  of  ecarle  with  a geiitleium  frora  Orleans,  and  won 
it.  He  picked  up  the  tricks  with  a rapidity  that  showmd  how  clearly  he 
knew  the  position  of  the  cards  upon  the  table.  Keeping  those  dealt  to 
him  in  his  left  hand,  he  held  the  card  ho  meant  to  play  in  his  right,  and 
never  once  changed  it  upon  the  play  of  his  partner.  He  knew  his  adver- 
sary’s hand  as  well  as  he  knew  his  own.  I may  add,  that  the  cards  used  were 
bought  at  a grocer’s  half  an  hour  before,  by  myself,  and  that  any  suspicion  of 
prepared  cards  would  be  completely  idle  and  absurd.  . . . Mr.  Goodrich, 
who  was  an  unbeliever,  had  brought  from  his  office  a letter,  hidden  in  the 
corner  of  half  a dozen  envelopes,  and  the  nature  of  whose  enntonts  no  one 
knew  but  himself.  He  was  willing  to  believe,  if  Alexis  read  the  signature. 
After  slight  hesitation,  and  one  error,  in  the  first  letter,  he  did  rend  it.  lie 

' The  New  York  Evedivg  Post  noticed  and  pifblishcd  the  clairvoyant  stat»’- 
ineiit.  at  the  time  it  appeared,  with  the  sanction  of  Dr.  Gregory,  and  likewise 
its  coufirmation  by  Captain  Austin’s  report,  as  publislied  in  tlie  Times. 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


397 


took  a pencil  and  paper  and  wrote — Victor  Dug — . He  then  exclaimed, 
without  finishing  the  word,  ‘C'est  Victor  Hugo  !’  The  envelopes  were  then 
opened,  the  letter  w'as  unfolded,  and  the  signature,  Victor  Hugo,  was  cer- 
tainl}^  at  the  bottom  of  it.  The  H much  resembled  a D,  and  Alexis  had 
taken  it  for  one,  until  the  sight  of  the  remaining  letters  caused  him  to  look 
back  aud  correct  the  error.” 

The  Times''  correspondent  gave  several  ^ther  illustrative 
examples  of  the  clairvoyance  of  Alexis.  When  a daguerre- 
otype of  Hudson’s  bust  of  Washington — inclosed  in  a mo- 
rocco case — was  placed  before  him,  he  commenced  to  write 
the  name  ; but,  without  finishing  it,  he  seized  a book  on 
America,  which  he  had  been  reading,  and — turning  over  the 
leaves  rapidly^ — pointed  to  an  engraved  portrait  of  Wash- 
ington, and  said,  with  emphasis,  “ That's  it ; the  engraving 
and  daguerreotype  are  one  and  the  same."  When  requested 
to  point  out  the  best  pianist  in  the  room,  several  gentlemen 
present  extended  their  hands  to  him,  but  each  in  turn  was 
rejected.  When  left  to  make  his  clioice,  lie  seized  the  hand 
of  M.  Jules  Cohen,  a young  man  not  eighteen  years  of  age, 
who  had  won  four  first  prizes  at  the  Conservatoire,  and  was 
really  the  best  pianist  of  his  age  in  Europe. 

Mrs.  Semantha  Mettler,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  has  long  exer- 
cised her  clairvoyant  powers  in  discovering  the  immediate 
and  remote  causes  of  disease,  its  organic  relations — noting, 
at  any  distance,  its  essential  character  and  its  phenomenal 
aspects  -and  in  selecting  from  the  great  pharmacopaia  of 
Nature  the  appropriate  remedies  for  her  patients.  During 
a period  of  fifteen  years  she  has  been  constantly  before  the 
public,  in  a professional  capacity,  and  her  diagnoses — made 
in  the  course  of  her  daily  transfigurations—  amount  to  more 
than  40,000  in  number.  In  numerous  instances  the  repre- 


398 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sentatives  of  accredited  science  have  been  put  to  shame  by 
Mrs.  Mettler’s  disclosures  resjoecting  the  original  cause,  the 
particular  seat,  the  precise  nature,  and  the  ultimate  result  of 
a disease,  when  these  were  previously  all  unknown  by  the 
afflicted  parties,  and  not  to  be  detected  by  ordinary  profes- 
sional sagacity.  But  of  her  labors  let  those  speak  to  wliom 
she  has  been  a minister  of  hope,  and  liealth  and  life. 

Dr.  T.  Lea  Smith,  of  Hamilton,  Bermuda,  in  his  account 
of  an  interview  with  Mrs.  M.,  which  occurred  in  Hartford, 
in  the  year  1853,  declares  that  she  gave  accurate,  general, 
and  precise  descriptions  of  objects  in  and  around  hiS  Island 
home.  A.mong  other  things,  she  discovered  a plant  that 
grows  in  great  abundance  in  that  Island — which  the  Doctor 
had  previously  regarded  as  a useless  weed — and  assured  him 
that  it  would  cure  the  yellow  fever.  In  a letter  written  at 
Hamilton,  under  date  of  Oct.  29th,  1856,  Dr.  Smith  says: 
“ During  the  last  three  months  the  fever  has  been  making 
sad  havoc  in  Bermuda,  and  we  know  not  where  it  will  stop ; 
it  is  very  bad  among  tlie  troops  ; but  I am  happy  to  say 
that,  out  of  two  hundred  cases,  treated  hy  Mrs.  Metiler's  pre- 
scription, only  four  have  died  Tlie  Doctor  mentions — 
as  occuring  at  a previous  interview — another  singular  illus- 
tration of  the  powers  of  the  Seeress.  While  in  the  magnetic 
trance,  at  Hartford,  she  visited  the  Island,  went  to  the  Ceme- 
tery at  Hamilton,  and  read  an  inscription  on  a tombstone! 

The  writer  could  easily  fill  a volume  of  facts  illustrative 
of  the  Clairvoyance  of  Mrs.  Mettler,  but  a brief  digest  of  a 
few  well-authenticated  facts  must  sufflcc  in  this  connection. 
Mrs,  William  B.  Hodget,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  had  extreme 
pain  and  inflammation  in  one  of  her  limbs.  Mrs.  M.  made 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


399 


an  examination  at  the  distance  of  twenty-four  miles,  and  dis- 
covered a.  fine  cambric  needle  concealed  in  the  flesh.  This 
staggered  the  faith  of  Mr.  Hodget,  and  the  family  Physician 
was  equally  skeptical  on  the  point  of  the  needle  ; but,  to 
remove  all  doubts,  he  applied  his  lancet,  when  the  needle 
was  discovered  and  removed.  Mrs.  K.  H.  Smith,  of  Ravens- 
wood,  L,  I.,  was  treated. by  her  physician  for  dropsy.  The 
symptoms  did  not  subside  under  professional  treatment,  and 
the  attention  of  the  Seeress  was  called  to  the  case.  Mrs 
Mettler  at  once  discovered  that  she  was  enceinte,  and  that 
the  difficulty  which  her  physician  had  regarded  as  incurable 
would — in  the  natural  coui-se  of  things — be  entirely  removed 
in  about  three  months.  The  family  Physician  treated  the 
revelations  of  the  Clairvoyant  with  unmeasured  derision  and 
contempt.  As  often  as  his  professional  visits  were  repeated, 
he  made  himself  merry  at  the  expense  of  the  Seeress  and  her 
dupes.  However,  at  the  expiration  of  three  months,  the  doc- 
tor was  one  day  startled  and  amazed  at  witnessing  the  un- 
expected recovery  of  Ids  patient,  whose  sudden  restoration 
added  another  “ little  responsibility  to  the  Smith  family  ! 

In  the  autumn  of  1855,  Mr.  Charles  Barker,  of  Jackson, 
Michigan,  while  out  on  a hunting  excursion  with  a neigh- 
boring youth,  was  accidentally  shot  by  his  companion.  The 
charge  passed  through  the  pocket  of  his  pantaloons,  shiver- 
ing his  knife,  trunk  key,  etc.,  and  together  with  a portion 
of  the  contents  of  his  pocket,  was  deeply  buried  in  the  fleshy 
part  of  his  thigh.  This  unfortunate  occurrence  occasioned 
extreme  suffering  and  close  confinement  for  several  months. 
At  the  time  of  the  writer’s  visit  to  Jackson,  in  the  succeed- 
ing January,  his  continued  pain,  extreme  debility,  and  in- 


400 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


creasing  emaciation,  awakened  in  the  minds  of  his  friends 
intense  anxiety  for  his  safety.  On  my  return  from  the  West 
I took  an  early  opportunity  to  submit  this  distressing  case 
to  the  clairvoyant  inspection  of  Mrs.  Mettler,  merely  telling 
her  that  she  was  requested  to  examine  a young  man  who  had 
been  shot.  There  was  no  intimation  respecting  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  accident,  the  seat,  or  the  extent  of  the 
injury  ; nor  was  the  existing  condition  of  the  young  man  in 
any  way  implied  or  refeiTed  to.  In  the  course  of  the  inves- 
tigation and  diagnosis — conducted  at  Hartford,  while  the 
patient  was  in  Central  Michigan  — Mrs.  M.  discovered  a 
piece  of  copper  in  the  limb,  and  observed  that  the  wound 
would  not  heal  until  it  was  removed.  But  young  Barker 
was  sure  that  he  liad  no  copper  in  his  pocket  at  the  time  of 
the  accident  ; and,  inasmuch  as  the  medical  attendant  had 
made  no  such  discovery,  it  was  presumed  that  the  Seeress 
was  mistaken.  But  some  time  after  the  foreign  substance 
described  became  visible,  when  Mr.  Barker’s  mother — with 
a pair  of  embroidery  scissors — removed  a penny  from  the 
wound  ! In  such  a case  science  is  a stupid,  sightless  guide, 
and  must  stand  out  of  the  way.  The  doctors  in  Michigan 
could  not  see  that  penny  when  it  was  within  their  reach, 
and  their  eyes  were  wide  open  ; but  this  Seeress  discovered 
it  at  a distance  of  nearly  1,000  miles  with  her  eyes  closed ! 

I will  here  introduce  but  two  additional  illustrations  of 
Mrs.  Mettler’s  clear  siglit.  The  names  of  the  parties  in  both 
cases  are  withheld  for  reasons  which  the  mind  of  tlic  reader 
will  readily  suggest  An  Editor  of  a widely  circulated  jour- 
nal, published  in  New  York  city,  one  day  called  on  iMrs.  M. 
at  her  residence.  In  the  course  of  a brief  6*6*a?icc,  the  clair- 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


101 


voyant — witliout  so  much  as  a suggestion  from  the  gentle- 
man— went  to  visit  his  wife,  who  was  then  in  Bridgeport, 
over  fifty  miles  from  the  scene  of  tliis  interview.  The  gen- 
eral pliysical  condition  of  the  lady  was  accurately  described  ; 
but  one  particular  statement  occasioned  no  little  surprise, 
and  at  the  time  it  was  supposed  to  be  incorrect.  The  clair- 
voyant alleged  that  Mrs.  was  enceinte,  and  that  the 

case  involved  something  abnormal.  It  appeared  to  her  that 
there  was  a malformation  ; but  it  was  observed  that  at  that 
early  period  of  utero-gestation  she  could  not  discern  clearly 
the  nature  of  the  difficulty.  Our  editorial  friend  did  not 
disclose  this  singular  piece  of  information.  Seven  months 
after,  having  occasion  to  visit  Hartford,  he  again  called  on 
the  Seeress,  who  (being  in  the  trance)  informed  him  that  she 
could  then  perceive  the  precise  nature  of  the  case,  which 
had  been  but  obscurely  foreshadowed  in  the  former  diag- 
nosis. She  then  proceeded  to  make  some  very  definite  state- 
ments, the  follovdng  points  being  distinctly  affirmed,  namely, 
‘ There  was  a plural  conception  ‘ the  vital  forces  have  been 
insufficient  to  develop  the  two  forms  f ‘ the  organic  struc- 
ture of  one  is  altogether  incomplete,  though  its  weiglit  may 
be  some  five  pounds  ‘ the  other  is  perfect  in  organization 
and  beautifully  developed  •/  ffit  is  a boy,  and  will  weigh 
about  nine  pounds.’  Four  weeks  after  the  date  of  this  inter- 
view, the  accoucheur  was  sent  for,  when,  strange  to  say,  the 
foregoing  statement  of  the  clairvoyant  luas,  in  every  particu 
lar,  verifed  hy  the  facts.  The  writer’s  authorities  in  this 
case  are,  the  gentleman  himself  and  the  attendant  physician.  ^ 


’ In  the  Life  of  General  Charles  James  Napier  is  the  record  of  a singular 
incident  in  the  experience  of  General  Fox,  who  accompanied  the  Duke  of 


402 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


In  the  year  185-  a gentleman,  whose  home  is  in  “ the 
land  of  steady  habits,”  had  an  interview  with  Mrs.  Mettler 
— while  she  was  entranced — which  resulted  in  singular  and 
important  disclosures.  He  was  told  that  his  young  wife— 
who  was  distinguished  for  remarkable  personal  beauty — was 
engaged  in  an  intrigue  with  another  man.  The  clairvoyant 
described  a certain  letter  just  received,  and  which  the  hus- 
band might  find  by  going  to  her  trunk  ; and  it  was  further 
observed  that  the  letter  would  probably  be  answered  in  the 
afternoon  of  that  day.  On  leaving  the  rooms  of  Mrs.  M., 
the  gentleman  went  immediately  home  and  to  his,  wife’s 
trunk  ; and  finding  the  identical  letter,  he  at  once  resolved 
to  intercept  the  reply.  At  3 o’clock,  p.  M.,  the  answer  was 
deposited  in  the  Post-office,  and  by  a previous  arrangement 
with  one  of  the  clerks,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  injured 
husband.  The  clairvo}mnt  subsequently  disclosed  the  inten- 
tions of  the  false  fair  one,  pointed  out  the  places  where  she 
would  meet  her  inamorato,  and  likewise  mentioned  the  fact 
that  the  wife  was  purchasing  goods  on  her  husband’s  account 
preparatory  to  leaving  him  forever.  All  these  statements 
were  fully  confirmed  by  persons  employed  to  observe  her 
movements.  Very  soon  the  husband  had  in  his  possession 
abundant  evidence  of  the  infidelity  of  his  wife  to  her  mar- 

Yoik  to  Flanders.  Soon  after  the  General’s  departure  his  wife  was  con- 
fined. He  was  absent  more  than  two  years  ; and,  during  that  period,  ]\Irs. 
Fox  changed  her  residence  and  the  child  died.  The  father  never  saw  the 
little  one  in  the  flesh ; but,  becoming  clairvoyant  one  night,  he  had  a dis- 
tinct vision  in  which  the  room  occupied,  the  furniture  and  the  child,  were 
all  clearly  revealed,  lie  also  mentioned  the  day  and  hour  of  the  child’s 
death.  On  his  return  he  was  introduced  into  a room  in  v\  hich  he  had  never 
been  before,  whereupon  he  immediately  identilied  all  tlni  objects  in  the 
apartment,  including  a picture  of  his  (diild. 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


403 


riagc  vows,  including  several  letters  written  by  the  beautiful 
ainorette  herself,  and  containing  unmistakable  proofs  of  her 
amours.  Founding  liis  claim  on  the  evidence  thus  elicited, 
he  applied  for  and  readily  obtained  a bill  of  divorce  without 
the  trouble  of  going  to  Indiana. 

The  world  is  perpetually  changing  in  its  more  superficial 
aspects,’  but  the  inherent  principles  of  matter  and  the  essen- 
tial laws  of  mind  operate  with  unvarying  precision.  Nature, 
like  a vast  kaleidoscope,  shows  new  forms  and  combinations 
with  every  movement  of  the  elements,  but  the  superstructure 
remains,  matter  is  indestructible,  and  life  immortal.  The 
fundamental  principles  of  Nature  and  the  laws  that  regu- 
late tlie  economy  of  human  existence,  are  the  same  in  all 
ages  and  countries ; but  certain  periods  and  particular  local* 
ities  may  be  especially  favorable  to  their  high  and  orderly 
development.  The  ancient  Prophets  found  the  pure  air  and 
the  solemn  silence  of  the  most  elevated  regions  conducive  to 
the  highest  moral  states  and  spiritual  attainments.  Accord- 
ingly, they  erected  altars  on  the  summits  of  mountains,  and 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  consecrated  the  hills  that  overlooked 
Jerusalem,  alike  by  his  frequent  visits  and  his  most  impres- 
sive teachings. 

There  is  something  in  the  atmosphere  of  certain  moun- 
tainous districts  that  is  favorable  to  inward  growth  and  a 
peculiar  mental  illumination.  This  is  true  in  respect  to  por- 
tions of  Germany,  Denmark  and  Switzerland,*  and  the  gift 
of  second  sight,  or  clairvoyance,  has  long  distinguished  the 

1 The  Swiss  have  a tradition  that  the  patriot  William  Tell  and  the  found- 
ers of  the  Helve'ic  Confederation  sleep  together  in  a cave,  near  Lake 
Lucerne  ; and  that  when  their  country  is  imperiled,  they  will  awake  to 
assert  the  rights  and  defend  the  liberties  of  the  people. 


404 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Scotcli  Higlilanders.  Even  the  superstitions  of  the  igno- 
rant ; tlie  wild  legends  of  the  country,  and  all  the  incon- 
gruous elements  and  supernatural  powers  of  a fanciful  Spir- 
itualism, absurd  as  they  may  appear  in  the  light  of  a rational 
philosophy,  nevertheless  clearly  indicate  the  tendency  of  the 
common  mind  to  a recognition  of  the  psychical  faculties  and 
relations  of  human  nature.  If  in  the  polytheistic'  features 
and^  ordinary  details  of  the  manifestation  of  this  spiritual 
element  in  the  Highland  life  and  character,  there  is  much 
that  is  imaginary  and  false,  there  is  also  much  that  is  deeply 
suggestive  and  essentially  true.  Those  who  dwell  among 
the  mountains,  not  only  possess  vital  and  muscular  strength 
but  often  that  clearness  of  perception  which  enables  them  to 
•interpret  the  mysteries  of.  Nature  by  the  light  of  the  Soul. 
The  lake  region  of  Scotland  is  full  of  the  elements  of  poetic 
imagery  and  devout  suggestion.  The  green  banks  of 

“ Wooded  Windermir^re,  the  river-lake,’’ 

and  that  enchanting  spot  known  as  Belle  Lsle,  with  its  sweet 
liorne  in  the  midst,  appearing  to  the  distant  observer  like 

“A  Grecian  temple  rising  from  the  deep 

the  lofty  peaks  that  point  heavenward  to  the  hight  of  two 
thousand  feet  ; the  ruins  of  old  castles  and  Hruidical  tem- 
ples, with  historic  associations  that  stir  the  blood  or  solem- 
nize the  mind  ; the  strange  legends  of  the  wood  and  the 
flood  ; the  habitations  of  great  poets  and  the  sacred  memo- 
rials of  their  genius — these  all  contribute  to  exalt  the  mind 
and  to  spiritualize  the  faculties.  There  is  enchantment  in 
every  scene  and  inspiration  in  the  very  atmosphere.  Mrs 


TTIR  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


405 


TTemans  must  have  felt  the  subtile  magnetism  of  Nature, 
and  realized  the  presence  of  the  invisible  “ powers  of  the 
air,”  when  she  sung  thus  of  the  sweet  Yale  of  Grasmere : 

“ 0 vale  and  lake,  within  your  mountain  urn, 

Smiling  so  tranquilly,  and  set  so  deep  ! 

Oft  doth  yoar  dreamy  loveliness  return, 

Coloring  the  tender  shadows  of  my  sleep 
With  light  Elysian  ; for  the  hues  that  steep 
Your  shores  in  melting  luster,  seem  to  float 
On  golden  clouds  from  Spirit-lands,  remote 
Isles  of  the  blest ; and  in  our  memory  keep 
Their  place  with  holiest  harmonies.  Fair  scene, 

Most  loved  by  evening  and  her  dewy  star ! 

Oh  ! ne’er  may  man,  with  touch  unhallow’d,  jar 
The  perfect  music  of  the  charm  serene! 

Still,  still  unchanged,  may  one  sweet  region  wear 

Smiles  that  subdue  the  soul  to  love,  and  tears  and  prayer !’ 

The  examples  presented  in  illustration  of  this  part  of  my 
subject  are  altogether  sufficient  to  place  the  cardinal  fact 
of  Clairvoyance  among  the  demonstrated  realties  of  human 
experience.  Hereafter  we  may  as  well  doubt  the  existence 
of  the  sense  of  vision  itself  as  to  dispute  the  proofs  of  this 
super-exalted  power  of  perception.  The  facts  are  profoundly 
suggestive.  Their  relation  to  man’s  spiritual  nature  and  tlie 
great  question  of  our  immortality,  will  be  considered  here- 
after. While  they  demonstrate  the  development^ — in  many 
persons— of  this  amazing  power  of  vision,  they  also  as  clearly 
prove  that  the  physical  organs  are,  at  tlie  same  time,  utterly 
useless.  The  strongest  light  does  not  produce  the  slightest 
effect  on  the  optic  nerve,  while  the  objects  inspected  are  as 
clearly  discovered  through  solid  walls  and  in  midnight  dark- 
ness, as  if  they  were  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  impal- 


406 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


pable  ether,  made  transparent  by  the  complete  illumination 
and  unclouded  glory  of  noonday. 

But  it  is  often  objected  that  the  results  of  this  extraordi- 
nary exercise  or  function  of  the  sense  of  sight,  can  not  be 
depended  upon  ; that  if  such  a power  really  exists,  it  is 
wholly  unreliable.  This  assumption  indicates  but  a super- 
ficial investigation  of  the  subject,  and  a disposidon  to  form 
very  hasty  conclusions.  Clairvoyance  means  char  vision^ 
and  clear  sight  is  reliable  ; for  a distinct  perception  of  any 
object,  event  or  circumstance,  must  qualify  the  party,  wlio 
perceives  its  existence  or  occurrence,  to  speak  witlr  confi- 
dence. Common  observers  are  deceived,  not  because  Clair- 
voyance is  a lying  oracle  ; but  the  truth  is,  their  oion  iinper^ 
feet  acquaintance  luith  the  subject  does  not  enable  them  to 
determine  infallibly  luhen  and  where  this  'poioer  exists^  and 
the  precise  limits  of  the  sphere  in  ivhich  it  is  operative. 

The  field  of  vision,  though  more  or  less  extended  in  differ- 
ent persons,  and  otherwise  limited  or  enlarged  by  individ- 
ual idiosyncrasies,  may  possibly  comprehend,  in  the  totality 
of  its  exercise,  all  persons,  objects,  events  and  circumstances, 
whether  within  the  range  of  ordinary  perception  and  inves- 
tigation, or  beyond  the  utmost  reach  of  the  senses  in  their 
normal  exercise.  Among  the  things  revealed  by  the  Clair- 
voyant are  the  subtile  powers  and  the  supra-mortal  person- 
alities of  the  invisible  life  and  world.  The  old  Prophet 
and  his  servant  beheld  the  shadowy  hosts  that  peopled  the 
ethereal  regions — whose  presence  was  as  an  impenetrable 
shield  or  wall  of  fire  between  them  and  their  enemies  ; the 
Woman  of  Endor  saw  and  described  Samuel  ; Moses  and 
Elias  were  visible  to  the  disciples  who  witnessed  the  trans- 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


407 


figuration;  Jesus, by  this  power  of  interior  perception,  ‘knew 
what  was  in  man’  ; heaven  was  opened  to  Peter,  and  Paul 
saw  things  of  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  speak. 

Now  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  Seers  of  otlier  coun- 
tries and  other  times  liave  asserted  their  claims  to  the  pos- 
session and  exercise  of  the  same  faculty.  This  is  true  in 
respect  to  several  of  the  clairvoyants  named  in  the  preced- 
ing classification.  Swedenborg  wa#  one  day  walking  along 
Cheapside  with  a friend,  wlien  he  suddenly  bowed  very  low. 
On  being  interrogated,  he  affirmed  that  ‘ he  saw  Moses  pass 
by.’  Moreover,  he  claimed  to  have  been  intromitted  to  the 
heavens,  and  that  he  perceived  the  states  of  men  after  death. 
The  pious  Frederica  Hauffe  professed  to  see  the  inhabitants 
of  the  other  world.  The  Eev.  William  Tennent,  of  New 
Jersey — a Presbyterian  divine,  who  for  ten  days  was  in  a 
trance  resembling  the  post  mortem  state — seems,  like  Paul, 
to  have  been  ‘ caught  up  into  heaven.’  Like  the  Apostle, 
he  was  little  disposed  to  converse  respecting  his  vision  of 
the  eternal  world  ; but  it  is  certain  that  the  influence  of  that 
experience  on  the  mind  and  character  of  the  man  continued 
until  the  close  of  his  life  on  earth.  In  fact  most  of  the 
persons  who  really  have  possessed  the  inward  vision,  have 
asserted  the  same  claims  with  the  utmost  confidence  and 
apparently  with  great  sincerity.’ 

‘ So  generally  do  the  Magnetic  Seers  of  the  present  time  set  up  tliis 
claim,  that  in  the  “ Secrets  of  the  Life  to  Come,  Revealed  through  Mag- 
netism,” the  author,  L.  Alph.  Cahagxet,  affirms  that  “ the  oxishmce,  the 
form,  and  the  occupations,  of  the  Soul  after  its  separation  from  the  body, 
are  proved  by  many  years’  experiments,  by  the  means  of  Eight  Ecstatic 
Somnambulists,  who  had  eighty  perceptions  of  thirty-six  deceased  persons 
of  various  conditions  and  whose  aspects,  characters,  and  conversations 
are  described  and  recorded  in  his  curious  book. 


408 


:,[AN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Now  what  is  llie  rational  presumption  in  view  of  these 
extraordinary  facts  and  claims  ? The  author  is  neither 
inclined  to  blind  credulity  nor  an  unreasoning  skepticism. 
The  philosophical  inquirer  will  scarcely  be  disposed  to  dog- 
matize on  a point  of  this  nature,  and  he  certainly  will  not 
dispute  the  testimony  of  so  many  conscientious  witnesses. 
If,  when  a witness  testifies  to  several  facts,  we  can  and  do 
readily  demonstrate  th«  reliability  of  his  perception,  and 
his  fidelity  to  truth,  in  all  of  the  facts  but  one,  it  will  not 
be  denied  that  the  logical  inference  is  in  favor  of  the  accept- 
ance of  his  testimony  in  respect  to  the  remaining  fact,  which 
does  not  admit  of  such  demonstration.  Such  is  the  state  of 
facts  and  the  nature  of  the  evidence  in  the  case  under  re- 
view. When  the  Seer  describes  unknown  persons,  foreign 
countries,  invisible  objects  and  remote  events  ; reads  sealed 
letters,  perceives  the  properties  of  different  substances,  dis- 
covers the  thoughts  of  men,  unveils  the  forgotten  past  and 
penetrates  into  the  unkown  future  of  this  world,  we  are  able 
to  verify  his  statements.  In  respect  to  all  these,  we  have 
found  Clairvoyance  to  be  a strictly  reliable  witness  ; and  it 
now  remains  for  us  to  either  accept  or  reject  such  testimony 
— respecting  the  higher  realities  of  the  Inward  Life — as  the 
spirit  of  a rational  faith  and  the  dicta  of  a scientific  philo- 
sophy may  determine. 

/ In  the  selection  of  facts  I have  been  conlined  to  no  par- 
ticular nation  or  period  in  human  history.  Moreover,  the 
examples  are  sufficiently  diversified  to  illustrate  the  several 
degrees  and  phases  of  Clairvoyance  ; and  they  certainly 
warrant  the  conclusion  that  this  power  is  essentially  the 
same  in  all  ages  and  countries.  Now,  if  wo  arc  to  credi*" 


THK  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


409 


the  ancient  Hebrew  Seers,  when  they  profess  to  look  into 
the  invisible  world,  every  principle  of  justice  and  rule  of 
logic  demand  that  we  should  respect  the  legitimate  claims 
of  the  Seers  of  other  nations  and  of  modern  times.  Natural 
sight  was  the  same  in  the  Madonna  and  the  Magdalen,  in  the 
chief  Apostle  and  the  vilest  apostate.  In  like  manner.  Clair- 
voyance, or  the  vision  of  the  Seer,  is  one  and  the  same,  whe- 
ther exercised  by  an  ancient  Jew  or  a modern  Gentile  ; by 
a canonized  saint  or  a common  sinner  ; by  a Pagan,  Moham- 
medan or  Christian.  Will  it  be  said  that  this  superior 
power  of  perception  is  a divine  faculty  when  displayed  by 
an  Apostle  and  that  it  becomes  a profane  endowment,  or 
at  best  a worthless  gift  when  in  the  possession  of  a heretic 
or  an  infidel  ? Such  arbitrary  distinctions  are  not  founded 
on  any  fundamental  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  facts,  and 
they  can  only  be  supported  by  the  arrogant  assumptions  of 
pretended  philosophers  and  tiieological  dogmatists. 

It  is  not  strange  that  scientific  investigation  so  often  leads 
to  skepticism,  since  the  savans  confine  themselves  to  their 
material  methods,  and’  insist  on  using  only  such  tests  as  are 
applicable  in  the  department  of  physics.  Everything  must  be 
weighed  and  measured,  dissected  or  put  in  a crucible.  The 
presence  of  the  Soul  can  not  be  determined  by  such  means. 
Perhaps  it  will  not  turn  the  balance  ; it  can  not  be  muti- 
lated by  the  scalpel,  confined  in  a retort,  or  fused  in  the  fire ; 
hence  our  modern  masters  are  skeptical  respecting  the  ex- 
istence  of  the  Soul.  Indeed,  nothing  can  more  clearly  illus- 
trate the  materialism  of  the  age,  than  the  prevalent  disposi- 
tion to  ascribe  all  psychical  phenomena  to  a disordered 
action  of  the  bodily- organs.  This  fs  especially  true  in  re- 


410 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


spect  to  the  schools  ; and  so  great  is  the  ignorance  on  this 
subject  that  our  soi  disant  philosophers,  and  even  some 
accredited  authorities  in  modern  science,  are  unable  to  dis- 
tinguish between  a vision  of  heaven  and  an  attack  of  niglit- 
mare ! The  somnambulist  is  generally  presumed  to  be  a 
sick  man  ; tlie  illuminated  Seer  is  treated  as  a patient ; and 
all  those  powers  that  indicate,  in  their  development,  the 
supremacy  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh,  are  regarded  as  evi- 
dences of  vital  or  mental  derangement — except  such  as  are 
comprehended  in  the  experience  of  the  ancient  Jews  and 
early  Christians.  This  is  virtually  presuming  that  the  per- 
fection of  the  individual,  and  his  accord  with  Nature,  are 
best  realized  when  his  powers  of  perception  are  blunted  by 
the  influence  of  a material  philosophy  and  a sensuous  life  ; 
and  he  is  unconscious  of  the  slightest  possible  illumination 
from  super- terrestial  sources. 

Angels  and  ministers  of  grace,  defend  us’’ 

from  the  titled  empiricism  that  would  lead  the  world  to  such 
gross  and  infidel  issues ! Truly,  the  depths  of  apostacy  are 
sounded,  and  Reason  is  immolated  by  those  learned  men  (?) 
who  thus  include  the  highest  developments  of  the  soul  and 
the  physical  maladies  of  the  body  in  the  same  category  ! 

The  schools  ore  prone  to  be  delving  among  the  fossil 
remains  of  dead  and  forgotten  things  ; but  wlien  we  invite 
them  to  investigate  the  most  significant  plicnomena  that 
spring  from  the  relations  of  tlie  soul  and  the  body,  they 
seem  inclined  to  regard  the  whole  subject  as  beyond  tlie 
})roper  domain  of  science.  4 rue,  the  remarkable  experi- 
ences of  the  Jews  are  ostensibly  accejited  as  intrinsically 
probable  ; but  modern  facts  of  analogous  character,  and 


THE  CLAIRVOYANT  VISION. 


411 


obviously  depending  on  the  same  general  laws,  arc  ungra- 
ciously rejected.  But  no  candid  man  will  profess  to  pursue 
the  scientific  method  in  his  investijjations,  while  he  thus 
makes  an  arbitrary  distinction  in  favor  of  one  particular 
nation,  over  all  the  men  of  every  age  and  country  who  have 
witnessed  the  occurrence  of  similar  facts.  This  course  is 
utterly  hostile  to  the  true  spirit  of  scientific  investigation. 
Science  knows  no  such  distinctions  ; and  the  philosopher  has 
no  right  to  recognize  any,  except  such  as  grow  out  of,  and 
necessarily  depend  on,  existing  natural  differences. 

If  there  is  anything  sacred  in  the  Scriptural  illustrations 
of  my  subject,  it  surely  is  not  in  the  languages  that  served 
to  record  the  experiences  of  Prophets,  and  Apostles,  and 
Seers.  Verily  the  divine  benefaction  is  not  to  be  sought 
and  found  in  Hebrew  and  Greek  manuscripts — neither  in 
chemical  elements  nor  chirographical  characters.  But  it 
was,  and  it  is,  in  the  great  mental  and  moral  illumination 
that  renders  an  existence  of  poverty  glorious,  and  life  a 
sublime  achievement,  even  when  its  termination  is  the  death 
of  the  cross.  If  the  same  faculty  still  exists  and  is  exer- 
cised among  men,  has  it  no  longer  a claim  to  our  respectful 
consideration.?  If  the  power  to  penetrate  the  unseen  and 
to  discern  what  is  in  man,  was  once  a divine  gift,  who  shall 
say  that  it  has  become  a profane  juggle?  Yet  such  is  the 
inconsistency  of  poor  human  nature,  that  multitudes — who 
cherish  the  simple  history  of  Elisha’s  clairvoyance,  as  a 
Divine  communication  and  a priceless  inheritance — would 
not  so  much  as  cross  the  street  to  witness  the  most  impres- 
sive revelations  of  the  same  power.  They  speak  of  the  old 
Prophets  with  voices  modulated  by  the  deepest  reverence, 

26 


412 


MAN  AND  HIS  REI.ATIONS. 


while  they  may  regard  the  living  Seer,  either  as  a fool  or  a 
knave,  a lunatic,  or  at  best  as  the  victim  of  some  strange 
hallucination. 

But  I must  respect  the  Seer  as  an  interpreter  of  Nature, 
commissioned  to  stand  in  the  inner  courts  of  the  temple, 
and  to  unfold  the  Divine  mysteries.  Through  the  forms  of 
things,  he  \ et  discerns  their  hidden  properties;  he  uncovers 
the  minds  of  men,  and  looks  into  the  vital  precincts  of  all 
living  things  ; he  reverently  removes  the  shroud  from  the 
buried  nations,  and  speaks  for  such  as  have  no  voice.  The 
distance  of  time  is  not  required  to  invest  his  office  with  an 
air  of  enchantmeyit.  I shall  not  wait  for  his  apotheosis  ; I 
will  not  consider  the  remote  probabilities  of  his  being  can- 
onized ; it  is  sufficient  that  I have  examined  his  credentials. 
Others  may  suspend  judgment,  if  they  will,  until  the  dust  of 
centuries  has  silently  settled  over  his  forgotten  grave  ; but 
I will  recognize  the  divinity  of  his  mission  now.  Ho  stands 
beneath  the  Sun-circle  of  the  Universe  ; and  his  function  is 
solemn  and  sublime  as  when  the  heavens  opened  to  his 
enraptured  vision  above  the  mountains  of  Judea.  Ho  still 
holds  the  golden  key  to  the  penetralia  of  tlie  Future  ; and 
while  men  sleep  ho  lifts  the  groat  veil  from  o'F  the  face 
of  the  World,  that  “ the  invisible  things  of  God”  may  be 
clearly  seen  in  the  light  of  his  recognized  presence. 

“ O,  tUou^lit  ineffable  ! (J,  vision  blest ; 

Though  worthless  our  conceptions  all  of  Thee, 

Yet  shall  thy  shadowed  image  fill  each  breast, 

And  waft  its  homage  to  thy  Deity. 

God  1 thus  above  my  lonely  thoughts  can  soar  ; 

I hus  seek  thy  presence.  Being  wise  and  good  I 
’Midst  thy  vast  works  admire,  obey,  adore  ! 

And  when  the  tongue  is  eloquent  no  more. 

The  soul  shall  speak  in  songs  of  gratitude.” 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 

Material  tendencies  of  Science — Influence  of  Literature  and  the  Elegant 
Arts — Premonitions,  a phase  of  Prophetic  Inspiration — Reference  to  Sir 
Walter  Scott — The  prophetic  element  in  Poetry — Wordsworth  and  Camp- 
bell —Death  of  Governor  Marcy — His  Daughter’s  Premonition — Hon.  N. 
P.  Tallmadge,  and  the  accident  on  the  U.  S.  War  Steamer  Princeton— 
Miss  M — and  the  Officer  in  the  Peninsular  Campaign— Loss  of  the  Arctic 
• — Prophetic  Intimations  to  Five  Persons — Life  saved  by  a Premonition 
at  the  Norwalk  Railroad  Disaster— Prophecy  of  the  Burning  of  the  Henry 
Clay — Mrs.  Swisshelm’s  Report  of  Dr.  Wilson’s  Prophecies — Death  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas  predicted  three  months  before  it  occurred — Jaspers, 
the  Westphalian  Shepherd — Letter  to  President  Taylor  concerning  ancient 
Peruvian  Prophecies — Goethe’s  Experience — Prophecy  of  Cardiere,  from 
the  Life  of  Michael  Angelo— Remarkable  Prophecies  by  Roger  Bacon — 
Inspiration,  Heroic  Achievements,  and  Martyrdom  of  the  Shepherdess  ot" 
Lorraine — Exposition  of  the  Law  of  Prophecy. 

“ There  is  no  doubt  that  there  exist  such  voices, 

Yet  I will  not  call  them 

Voices  of  warning  that  announce  to  us 

Only  the  inevitable,  .flsthesun, 

Ere  it  be  risen,  sometimes  paints  its  image 
In  the  atmosphere  ; so  often  do  the  spirits 
Of  great  events  stride  on  before  the  events  ; 

And  in  to-day  already  walks  to-morrow.” — Coleridge. 

Q CIEN  CE  has  enabled  us  to  determine  the  superficial 
dimensions  of  the  earth  ; to  read  its  history  in  its  several 
strata  ; to  analyze  its  rocks  and  earths  ; to  estimate  its  solid 
contents,  and  to  ascertain  the  direction  and  velocity  of  its 
movements ; to  weigh  its  atmosphere  and  measure  its  waters ; 
to  classify  the  vegetables  and  animals  on  its  surface,  and  to 
divide  men  into  distinct  races.  But  what  has  accredited 
science  done  to  unveil  the  subtile  agents  employed  by  tlie 


414 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Creator  as  the  proximate  causes  of  these  elemental  changes 
and  organic  formations?  Which  of  the  material  philoso- 
phers has  traced  the  mysterious  forces  of  gravitation,  chem- 
ical affinity,  and  molecular  attraction  to  their  invisible 
sources  ? What  man  has  followed  the  occult  powers  to 
their  ultimate  hiding-places,  and  wrung  from  great  Nature 
the  secret  whereby  she  conducts  her  stupendous  operations  ? 
How  far  has  science  disclosed  the  laws  that  individualize 
life  and  regulate  the  functions  of  organized  existence  ? Has 
any  physiologist  been  fully  conscious  of  the  intimate  relations 
of  mental  to  vital  motion  as  exhibited  in  Man  ? .Where 
shall  we  find  the  man — in  all  the  crowds  that  frequent  the 
halls  of  science — who  has  solved  the  problem  of  animal  sen- 
sation and  instinct,  and  of  human  consciousness  and  reason  ? 
Who  has  fully  explained  the  philosophy  of  thought  and  the 
divine  mystery  of  love  ? It  must  be  confessed  tliat  the  most 
distinguished  votaries  of  science  have  shed  no  ray  of  ligh^ 
on  the  inmost  nature  and  relations  of  Man.  The  soul  has 
never  ceased  to  press  certain  grave  questions  concerning 
the  indestructibility  of  its  constitution,  its  undeveloped 
powers,  and  its  immortal  destiny  ; but  in  respect  to  all 
these.  Science  has  been  dumb  as  a Pagan  idol,  and  tlie  dead 
are  not  so  voiceless  as  those  who  wear  her  insignia  to-day. 

The  materialism  of  science  was  scarcely  more  apparent  in 
the  earliest  stages  of  its  development.  We  know  something 
of  the  properties  and  uses  of  the  simple  elements,  and  of  the 
results  of  their  various  combinations ; but  comparatively  little 
respecting  the  nature  and  capabilities  of  the  imponderable 
agents.  The  schools  have  accomplished  little  more  tlian  a 
classification  of  mere  physical  forms  and  [)henomena,  and  the 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY.  415 

elaboration  of  their  technical  disquisitions  on  whatever  is 
least  vital  and  signilicant.  Thus  human  science  and  human 
minds  have  been  materialized  together,  and  it  is  now  quite 
frequently  acknowledged  that  great  scientific  attainments  are 
unfavorable  to  religion  ; that  philosophy  and  faith  are  incom- 
patible ; and  that  the  study  of  Nature  leads  the  soul  away 
from  God.  But  this  results  from  the  superficial  nature  of 
our  knowledge.  Lord  Bacon  observed  that  a shallow  phi- 
losophy, comprehending  only  the  surface  of  things  and  the 
operation  of  second  causes,  led  men  into  Atheism  ; but  that 
a profound  philosophy  must  lead  the  wandering  soul  back 
to  repose  on  the  bosom  of  the  Infinite.  The  man  who  con- 
fines his  observations  to  what  is  merely  external  and  apparent 
can  not  rationally  expect  to  comprehend  the  essential  con- 
stitution and  internal  reality  of  being.  He  may  survey  the 
surface  of  things  and  look  at  the  outside  of  the  world  forever, 
and  not  satisfy  his  mind  respecting  the  vital  principles  of 
existence,  just  as  a hungry  man  might  examine  the  shell  of 
an  oyster  wdth  the  utmost  care,  and  yet  derive  neither  know- 
ledge nor  nourishment  from  what  it  contains.  If  then  the 
influence  of  modern  science  has  not  made  men  more  devout  I 
in  a rational  and  true  sense,  it  is  because  our  science  has 
been  essentially  external  and  material.  But  those  who  have 
ventured  to  break  away  from  the  arbitrary  restraints  of  the 
schools,  regardless  of  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  accepted 
authorities— who  have  dared  to  explore  the  Unseen  and  to 
question  the  Infinite — have  been  rendered  reverent  by  study. 

In  proposing  to  accompany  my  classification  of  facts  with 
philosophical  suggestions  on  the  subject  of  Prophecy,  I may 
be  regarded  as  a profane  adventurer  by  those  who  view  the 


X 


■ ^ ,1^' 


> 


X 


416 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


whole  field  as  forbidden  ground.  So  long  have  men  been 
taught  that  the  exercise  of  reason,  on  subjects  of  this  nature, 
is  hostile  to  Religion  and  dangerous  to  the  soul,  tliat  few 
have  felt  authorized  to  pursue  their  inquiries  on  rational 
grounds.  Hence  doubt  and  irresolution  have  characterized 
the  attempts  to  unveil  the  ethereal  mysteries,  and  each  step 
toward  the  Invisible  has  been  taken  with  fear  and  trembling. 
/Whatever  is  beyond  the  limits  already  defined  by  the  ac- 
j knowledged  masters  in  Philosopln^,  Morals  and  Religion,  is 
treated  with  as  much  caution  and  reserve  as  if  it  were  a 
I magazine  of  thunderbolts,  or  a Pandora’s  box  charged  with 
; the  elements  of  the  soul’s  destruction. 

But  we  can  not  sympathize  with  those  craven  souls,  whose 
fears  have  been  their  counsellors ; nor  can  we  abandon  the 
investigation  because  the  subject  is  presumed  to  be  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  our  finite  powers.  They  are  feeole  or  indolent 
beings  who  will  not  reverently  scan  the  Creator’s  works  and 
read  the  record  of  his  word  in  all  things.  The  subject  is 
neither  above  human  comprehension  nor  beyond  the  proper 
domain  of  science.  If  we  fail,  it  is  not  because  success  is 
impossible,  but  rather  for  the  reason  that  we  question  tlie 
ultimate  designs  of  Providence,  and  have  formed  no  just 
estimate  of  the  sublime  possibilities  of  human  nature.  The 
f man  of  large  faith  and  strong  determination  seldom  fails, 
) while  the  weak  and  irresolute  rarely  succeed.  Thus  we  dis- 
cover that 

Our  doubts  are  traitors, 

A*nd  make  us  lose  the  good  we  oft  might  wid, 

By  fearing  to  attempt.’^ 

(The  assumption  that  science  must  be  forever  confined  to 


THE  LA^Y  OF  PROPHECY. 


417 


pliysics,  is  too  preposterous  to  merit  a formal  refutation,  j 
We  are  willing  to  indulge  the  instincts  tliat  prompt  so  many 
to  dive  and  delve ; but  if  others  are  impelled  to  rise — by 
virtue  of  a divine  attraction,  and  the  supreme  law  of  their 
own  affinities — into  the  higher  departments  of  tfie  Universe, 
there  is  no  reason  to  question  the  wisdom  of  their  choice. 
There  are  new  and  untrodden  fields  that  must  be  explored 
and  the  minds  of  this  class — by  their  superior  power  of  cog- 
nition— must  discern  our  relations  to  those  grand  realities 
that  open  inward  and  upward  from  the  plain  of  our  com- 
mon life.  Surely  the  realm  of  divine  principles  and  silent 
forces  is  subject  to  law,  and  characterized  by  a beautiful 
method  and  a sublime  order.  Those  principles  may  be  in- 
vestigated ; the  laws  of  the  inner  life  are  disclosed  to  our 
spiritual  consciousness,  and  the  modes  of  the  Divine  proce- 
dure are  revealed  in  Nature  and  in  history.  If  then  the  fac- 
ulties and  susceptibilities  of  the  human  mind — in  the  higher 
sphere  of  its  action — are  regulated  by  fixed  principles,  it 
follows  that  psychical  phenomena  may  be  observed  and 
classified,  and  the  laws  that  govern  them  may  be  discovered 
and  explained.  Such  a classification  of  actual  facts  and  ex- 
positions of  essential  laws,  constitute  science.  And  thus,i 
step  by  step — by  the  unerring  line  of  a far-reaching  induc- 
tion— Science  may  ascend  from  the  smallest  particulars  on 
earth  to  the  grandest  realities  of  Heaven  ; and  at  last — , 
shaking  the  dust  from  her  garments — be  baptized  in  “ the  1 
River  of  Life.’' 

But  while  our  scientific  authorities  have  done  but  little  tof 
foster  the  religious  sentiment,  and  much  to  encourage  popu- 
lar materialism,  Literature,  on  the  contrary,  lias,  to  a gre^t  - 


418 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


(^extent,  conserved  these  elements  in  human  nature  and  its 
institutions.  All  nations  have  had  their  spiritual  books  ; 

S and  the  spiritual  idea- 

' “ Like  crystal  streams  that  murmur  through  the  meads” — 

I runs  noislessly  through  a large  portion  of  the  best  literature 
of  all  countries,  marking  its  silent  progress,  along  every 
walk  of  life,  with  perennial  freshness  and  beauty,  and  caus- 
ing the  moral  wildernesses  to  bloom  like  Paradise. 

The  Elegant  Arts  have  all  been  eloquent  exponents  of 
divine  ideas.  They  are  beautiful  ministers  that  wait  in  the 
temples,  and  whose  purest  offerings  have  been  laid-  on  the 
altars  of  Religion.  Painting,  Sculpture,  Poetry,  Music, 
Oratory  and  Architecture,  have  all  contributed  to  restrain 
and  refine  the  passions,  and  to  furnish  the  most  exalted 
ideals  for  human  contemplation.  They  have  spiritualized 
the  popular  thought  and  the  common  life  of  the  world. 
Painting  presents  impressive  illustrations  on  the  walls  of 
the  Farnesian  Palace  and  the  Sistine  Chapel,  where  Raphael 
and  Michael  Angelo  left  their  immortal  creations  in  the 
Banquet  of  the  Gods  and  the  Last  Judgment.  The  hand  of 
the  latter  is  never  to  bo  mistaken,  and  is  visible  in  Ricciu/- 
relli’s  Christ  and  the  Women,  in  the  Descent  from  the  Cross. 
The  feminine  delicacy,  exquisite  pathos,  and  dramatic  effect 
combined  in  the  Frescos  and  other  works  of  Raphael ; the 
epic  grandeur  and  profound  solemnity  of  Angelo’s  vast  con- 
ceptions ; and  the  faultless  harmony  and  mysterious  spells 
by  which  Correggio  enchains  the  rohned  sense  and  enlight- 
ened soul’,  until  it  is  entranced  with  “ the  soft  emotions  of  a 
delicious  dream” — all,  all  attest  the  spiritual  ministry  of  Art. 

But  Painting  is  not  the  only  form  of  Art  tliat  is  morally 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


419 


infliiO'Uial.  Greece  gav^e  the  world  marble  revelations,  in 
the  beautiful  forms  of  her  gods  and  goddesses  ; tlie  “ frozen 
music”  of  Architecture,  performed  in  innumerable  temples, 
wliose  spires  point  upward  to  heaven  ; the  stately  mauso- 
leums of  kings,  and  saints,  and  martyrs,  and  the  enduring 
memorials  of  all  tlie  illustrious  dead,  suggest  the  supreme 
authority  of  our  religious  impressions  and  spiritual  aspira- 
tions. Making  no  particular  references  to  the  ordinary 
poetry  and  music,  employed  in  the  private  devotions  and 
public  services  of  the  church,  we  can  only  hint  at  the  im- 
portance of  the  grandest  illustrations  of  poetic  and  musical 
inspiration.  In  Poetry,  we  have  the  D Ivina  Gommedia  of 
Dante ; Milton’s  Paradise  Lost  and  Regained,  and  the  Golden 
Age  of  Harris.  In  Music,  the  Laudi  Spirituali  of  the  Flor- 
entines; the  Ascension,  by  Bach,  and  the  Death  of  Jesus,  by 
Graun  ; Haydn’s  Creation,  Handel’s  Messiah,  and  the  Re- 
quiems of  Mozart,  Jomelli  and  Cherubine,  are  all  significant 
recognitions  of  the  religious  nature  of  man,  or  the  dominion 
of  spiritual  ideas  in  the  developments  of  Genius  and  Art. 

Before  attempting  to  explain  or  even  to  suggest  tlie  Law 
of  Prophecy,  it  will  be  proper  to  examine  such  facts  as  may 
best  serve  to  illustrate  the  subject.  To  discover  the  law  we 
must  necessarily  go  to  the  theater  of  its  operations.  Like 
the  perception  of  the  seer,  the  gift  of  prophetic  inspiration 
is  neither  confined  to  a single  nation  nor  restricted  to  par- 
ticular periods  in  human  history  ; at  the  same  time  personal 
habits  and  national  conditions  may  either  accelerate  or  re- 
strain its  development.  This  surprising  gift  is  exhibited  in 
several  degrees,  and  in  greater  or  less  perfection  in  the  same 
individual,  agreeably  to  the  ever-varying  states  of  mind,  and 


420 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


otlier  circumstances  that  may  influence  the  functions  of  his 
moral  nature.  The  lowest  degree  of  prophetic  inspiration 
I is  widely  manifested.  It  consists  of  a sudden  and  unaccount- 
able impulse  or  feeling,  often  of  apprehension,  apparently 
I causeless  and  generally  imdefinable.  It  is  a vague  shadow 
I on  the  mind,  and  an  imperfect  consciousness  that  some  event, 
j of  more  than  ordinary  consequence,  is  about  to  transpire. 

The  person  thus  impressed  may  neither  have  a distinct  con- 
^ ception  of  the  specific  character  of  that  event*  nor  be  able 
^ to  determine  the  precise  time  when  it  will  occur.  However, 
f when  the  impression  is  strong,  the  inference  that  the  impend- 
j ing  event  is  near  is  inevitable,  and  its  essential  nature  may 
V^be  apprehended  from  the  effects  produced  on  tlie  mind. 

The  phenomena  referred  to — as  embracing  the  lowest  phase 
of  prophetic  communication — are  usually  denominated  Prg- 
monitions ; and  the  psycho>jgy  of  common  life  is  often  illus- 
trated by  such  impressive  admonitions.  The  ambitious  ab 
tempts  of  certain  metapliysicians  to  dispose  of  tlie  facts  of 
this  class,  in  a satisfactory  manner,  have  been  melancholy 
failures.  The  examples  are  very  numerous  and  deeply  sug- 
gestive. While  the  ignorant  are  generally  prone  to  regard 
them  as  supernatural  in  their  origin,  the  learned — with  rare 
exceptions— have  been  disposed  to  set  them  aside  as  sensorial 
illusions,  remarkable  coincidences,  or  as  tlie  offspring  of  a 
prolific  but  distempered  fancy.  Sir  Walter  Scott  could 
neither  dispute  the  existence  of  such  facts  nor  account  for 
them  on  philosophical  principles.  lie  found  the  evidence 
of  their  reality  in  all  history,  and  especially  in  the  legends 
of  his  country  and  the  fireside  memories  of  liis  own  ))eo]fle. 
The  facts  were  more  potent  than  any  spell  of  po})ular  skop- 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


421 


ticisiii,  and  hence  the  exorcisms  of  genius  and  learning  were 
as  powerless  to  conceal  them  as  to  prevent  their  occurrence. 
Indeed,  if  Scott’s  volumes  on  “Demonolog}"  and  Witchcraft,” 
illustrate  one  thing  more  clearly  than  another,  it  is  the  ob- 
vious truth,  that  many  facts  in  human  experience  are  of  such 
a nature  that  material  philosophers  can  neither  comprehend 
nor  explain  them. 

Wordsworth  evidently  believed  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
was,  and  is,  given  to  men  in  every  age  and  country  ; and 
that  the  inner  avenues  of  perception  may  be  opened,  either 
by  a process  of  natural  development  or  by  superterrestrial 
influence.  In  the  preface  to  the  “ Excursion”  he  thus  invokes 
the  presence  of  the  spirit : 

“ Descend,  prophetic  spirit ! that  inspirest 
The  human  soul  of  universal  earth, 

Dreaming  of  things  to  come  ; and  dost  possess 
A metropolitan  temple  in  the  hearts 
Of  mighty  poets  ; upon  me  bestow 
A gift  of  genuine  insight.’’^ 

This  mysterious  perception  of  coming  events  has  been 
otherwise  used  as  an  element  in  poetry,  of  which  we  have 
an  example  in  the  interview  between  the  Seer  and  the  warlike 
Chief  of  the  Camerons.  The  latter  is  on  his  way  to  join  the 
standard  of  Charles  Stuart,  when  he  is  met  by  the  Seer  who 
predicts  his  overthrow.  Lochiel  denounces  him  as  a vile 
wizzard  ; but  the  prophet  is  made  to  say— in  the  language 
of  the  Poet— that  he  can  not  hide  the  terrible  vision  of  im- 
pending disaster : 

“ For,  dark  and  despairing,  my  bight  I may  seal, 

But  man  can  not  cover  what  God  would  reveal ; 

'Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 

And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.” 

The  Seer  proceeds,  and  the  catastrophe  is  described.  The 


422 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


field  and  the  conflict  are  before  him,  and  as  the  Pretender 
and  his  legions  fly  in  vision  from  the  bloody  scenes  of  Cul- 
loden,  the  Prophet  invokes  the  ‘ wild  tempests  to  rise  and 
cover  his  flight,’  as  if  the  elements  themselves  were  intelli- 
gent agents,  or  subject  to  the  influence  of  “ the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air.” 

It  has  already  been  observed  that  the  phase  of  prophetic 
impression  or  inspiration,  exhibited  in  premonitions,  is  not 
always  such  as  distinctly  reveals  the  precise  nature  of  the 
coming  event,  though  the  general  character  and  influence  of 
the  same  may  be  clearly  indicated.  The  facts  of  this  class 
are  innumerable,  but  for  the  purpose  of  the  present  elucida- 
tion, the  subjoined  examples  are  sufficient. 

The  daughter  of  the  late  Governor  Marcy,  of  New  York, 
spent  the  fourth  of  July,  18 — , at  the  residence  of  a friend  in 
Troy,  a party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  being  present.  The 
company  appeared  to  be  in  excellent  spirits.  Miss  Marcy  ex- 
cepted, who  early  in  the  day  exhibited  unusual  depression. 
Her  apparent  unhappiness  was  the  subject  of  remark,  and 
occasional  inquiries  respecting  the  cause  of  her  dejection.  In 
reply  to  the  interrogatories  of  her  friends,  she  expressed  the 
apprehension  that  an  extraordinary  calamity  iiad  overtaken 
some  member  of  the  family.  Early  in  the  afternoon  the  news 
of  the  death  of  her  father  reached  the  city,  and  was  communi- 
cated to  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  had  been  in  the  same 
company  with  Miss  Marcy  in  the  morning.  While  these 
gentlemen  were  in  a room  by  themselves,  deliberating  on 
the  proper  manner  of  communicating  the  painful  intelligence 
to  the  daughter,  and  before  she  could  have  received  the 
least  intimation  of  her  bereavement  through  any  ordinary 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


423 


cliamiel,  her  grief  became  ungovernable,  and  covering  her 
face  with  her  handkerchief  she  retired  from  the  apartment. 

In  1844,  Hon.  N.  P.  Tallmadge  was  one  of  a company, 
invited  by  Commodore  Stockton  to  make  an  excursion  down 
the  Potomac  on  the  United  States  War  Steamer  Princeton. 
The  party  included  the  President  and  members  of  the  Cabi- 
net, together  witli  many  other  distinguished  gentlemen  and 
ladies.  The  Commodore  proposed  to  signalize  the  occasion 
by  firing  his  “ Peace-maker^’ — a wrought-iron  gun  of  large 
caliber.  Accordingly,  a portion  of  the  company  assembled 
upon  the  forward  deck.  Governor  Tallmadge  occupying  a 
position  at  the  breech  of  the  gun.  He  felt  no  apprehension 
of  danger ; and  the  first,  second  and  third  discharges  were 
unaccompanied  by  any  unpleasant  results.  The  party  then 
went  below  for  refresliments.  After  dinner  the  Governor 
returned  to  the  deck,  when  he  observed  that  the  great  gun 
was  about  to  be  discharged  for  the  fourth  and  last  time.  He 
at  once  assumed  his  former  position.  But  the  Commodore, 
President,  and  heads  of  the  Executive  Departments,  were 
still  below,  and  the  firing  was  delayed  for  a few  moments  on 
their  account.  It  was  then  that  a mysterious  feeling  of  ap- 
prehension and  dread  suddenly  seized  the  Governor,  and 
under  an  irresistible  impulse  he  turned  away  and  followed 
the  ladies  into  the  cabin.  Immediately  the  report  was  heard, 
and  the  next  moment  came  the  startling  and  terrible  intelli- 
gence that  five  distinguished  gentlemen,  including  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  had  been  instantly  killed  by  the  last 
discharge.  In  his  description  of  that  frightful  accident, 
Governor  Tallmadge  says:  “I  rushed  on  deck,  saw  the  life- 
less and  mangled  bodies,  and  found  that  the  gun  had  burst 


424 


MAN  AND  HIS  KELATIONS. 


at  the  very  spot  where  I had  stood  at  the  three  former  fires, 
and  where — if  I had  remained  at  the  fourth  fire — I should 
have  been  perfectly  demolished.  ’ 

Miss  M had  a pure  and  deep  affection  for  a young 

officer  who  accompanied  Sir  John  Moore  in  the  Peninsular 
Campaign.  Her  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  her  lover  was 
constantly  exposed  to  danger  visibly  disturbed  her  mind  and 
impaired  her  health.  By  degrees  the  color  faded  from  her 
cheek,  and  gradually  she  resigned  herself  to  the  dominion  of 
a settled  melancholy.  She  felt  a positive  conviction  when 
she  parted  from  her  lover  that  they  would  meet  no  'more  on 
earth.  Her  friends  tried  to  comfort  her,  but  were  pained  to 
witness  the  failure  of  every  scheme  to  dissipate  the  shadows 
from  her  mind.  One  fearful  thought  haunted  her  night  and 
day.  Opulence  was  powerless  to  command  relief.  Music 
had  lost  its  enchantment;  and  in  the  midst  of  tlie  gay  crowd 
she  was  solitary.  The  tide  of  impetuous  life  ; the  glittering 
phantoms  of  the  fashionable  world  ; the  heraldry  of  beauty 
and  bravery  ; inspiring  mirth  and  sparkling  wit ; the  voices 
of  revelry  and  the  words  of  prayer — all  were  powerless  to 
recall  her  from  her  abstraction. 

This  young  lady  possessed  tlie  vision  that  is  neither  limited 
by  distance  nor  obscured  by  darkness  ; and  one  night — so 
she  affirmed — her  lover,  wounded,  pale  and  gory,  entered 
her  apartment ; and  with  the  utmost  gentleness  informed 
her  that  he  had  fallen  in  battle.  Otlicrs  said  that  tlie  phan- 
tom was  the  offspring  of  the  anxious  heart  and  the  disordered 
imagination.  But  there  was  too  much  of  reality  in  the  vision 


‘ latroduction  to  The  Healing  of  the  Nations  ” by  Hon.  N.  P.  Tallmadge, 
formerly  United  States  Senator  from  New  York  and  Governor  of  Wisconsin. 


TEE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


425 


and  its  consequences  : for,  under  tlie  pressure  of  the  sorrow- 
ful conviction,  tlie  maiden  died  in  a few  days.  It  was  not 
long  after  that  her  friends  received  intelligence  that  the 
officer  had  lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Corunna,  and  but  a 
few  hours  before  the  occurrence  of  the  mysterious  visitation. 

The  following  instances  of  prophetic  intimations  of  the 
same  event  all  occurred,  and  were  published  in  the  New 
York  papers,  about  the  time  of  the  loss  of  the  Arctic.  A 
lady  who  had  intended  to  secure  her  passage  on  that  steamer 
dreamed,  two  nights  in  succession,  that  the  vessel  had  foun- 
dered at  sea.  Such  was  the  impression  on  her  mind  that  she 
persuaded  several  friends  to  change  their  purpose,  and  to 
take  passage  with  her  on  the  Baltic.  Her  dream,  and  the 
strange  conviction  it  produced,  were  the  subject  of  familiar 
conversation  among  the  passengers,  before  anything  had 
transpired  to  verify  its  painful  suggestions. 

A gentleman  who  had  a relative  on  board  the  Arctic,  went 
to  the  wharf,  on  tlie  Sunday  when  she  was  due,  and  was  sur- 
prised on  finding  Mr.  E.  K.  Collins  there.  Mr.  C.  said  he 
scarcely  expected  to  find  the  steamer  in,  and  explained  the 
occasion  of  his  presence  by  saying,  that  he  had  been  made  a 
little  uneasy  by  dreaming  that  she  was  wrecked. 

Three  or  four  days  before  the  news  of  the  loss  of  the 
Arctic  reached  New  York,  a man  entered  the  office  of  Mr. 
Collins,  exhibiting  great  excitement.  He  declared  that  the 
Arctic  was  wrecked — that  only  thirty  of  her  passengers 
were  saved,  and  that  among  the  lost  was  his  brother. 

Mr.  George  Smith,  of  the  commercial  house  of  Messrs. 
Leupp  and  Company,  was  one  of  the  passengers  who  per- 
ished in  the  Arctic.  On  the  third  of  October,  six  days  after 


426 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


tlie  disaster,  and  before  the  steamer  could  bo  considered  over- 
due, a son  of  Mr.  Smith  died  in  New  York.  Some  time  before 
his  dissolution  the  youtli  assured  his  relatives  that  his  father 
had  lost  his  life  at  sea,  and  that  the}^  would  soon  be  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  his  statement. 

A gentleman,  whose  wife  and  daughter  were  in  England, 
and  designing  to  return  in  the  Arctic,  were  warned  by  him 
in  a letter  not  to  take  passage  in  that  steamer,  as  he  was 
apprehensive  some  accident  would  occur.  But  the  ladies, 
having  several  friends  who  had  secured  state-rooms  in  that 
vessel,  concluded  to  embark  with  them.  The  fact  that  the 
request  of  the  husband  and  father  had  been  disregarded 
weighed  heavily  on  the  wife^s  mind.  She  immediately  began 
to  experience  the  most  painful  forebodings,  and  was  mys- 
teriously impressed  with  the  tolling  of  the  alarm-bell,  on  Bell 
Buoy,  in  the  Irish  Channel.  Both  ladies  were  lost ! 

The  writer  was  present  to  witness  the  melancholy  wreck 
of  human  life  that  resulted  from  the  great  railroad  accident 
at  Norwalk,  Conneciicut.  In  that  case  the  life  of  one  person, 
at  least,  was  saved  by  a timely  premonition.  A gentleman, 
who  was  occupying  a seat  at  the  forward  end  of  one  of  the 
cars,  was  suddenly  disturbed  by  an  unaccountable  apprehen- 
sion of  danger.  So  strong  was  tlie  impj-ession  tliat  he  left 
liis  seat  and  walked  back  and  seated  himself  at  the  other 
end  of  the  car,  after  which  he  felt  at  ease.  Immediately 
another  man,  on  entering  the  car,  took  the  seat  he  had  re- 
signed. In  ten  minutes  the  terrible  catastrophe  occurred, 
the  locomotive  and  several  of  the  cars  being  precipitated 
through  the  draw  into  the  river.  Strange  to  say,  the  train 
was  so  far  arrested  that  only  one  half  of  the  car,  containing 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


42T 


tliG  persons  referred  to,  projected  over  tlie  draw.  This  car 
broke  in  two  in  tlie  middle,  the  forward  part  "oin^  into  the 
river,  and  tlie  otlier  portion  remaining  on  the  bridge.  The 
gentleman  wlio  liad  been  mysteriously  admonished,  escaped 
unharmed  ; but  when  the  mangled  bodies  were  removed  from 
tlie  wreck,  it  was  discovered  that  the  man  who  occupied  the 
abandoned  seat  was  dead,  a large  splint  from  the  side  of  the 
car  having  been  driven  directly  through  his  brain. 

But  there  are  other  cases  wherein  the  shadows  of  coming 
events  assume  more  definite  proportions,  and  instead  of  a 
blind  impulse  or  feeling,  unaccompanied  by  a mental  concep- 
tion, a distinct  impression  is  made  on  the  mind,  which  may 
admit  of  a precise  description.  In  other  words,  the  impend- 
ing events— in  their  proper  order,  and  in  their  relations  to 
time,  space,  persons,  institutions  and  circumstances — produce 
corresponding  mental  images,  and  these  may  be  otherwise  in- 
telligibly expressed  in  language.  The  succeeding  examples 
illustrate  the  superior  phases  of  this  prophetic  inspiration. 

The  writer  and  several  other  persons  were  witnesses  of 
a prophetic  announcement  of  the  destruction  of  the  steamer 
Henry  Clay,  on  the  Hudson  River,  made  by  Mrs.  Harriet 
Porter,  at  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  on  the  27th  day  of  July, 
1852 — the  day  before  that  boat  was  actually  burned.  On 
the  28th,  at  about  tbe  hour  of  three  o’clock,  p.  m.,  Mi-s. 
Porter — being  entranced  in  presence  of  several  persons — 
again  referred  to  the  subject,  and  proceeded  to  describe  the 
terrible  catastrophe,  which  was  then,  as  she  affirmed,  being 
enacted  befoi-e  her.  Slie  declared  witli  great  emphasis  that 
a steamboat  was  burning  on  the  Hudson ; that  she  could  see 
the  name — Henry  Clay;  and  that  the  village  of  Yonkers 


428 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


was  also  distinctly  visible.  She  appeared  to  be  thrilled  and 
terrified  at  the  spectacle,  and  expressed  the  deepest  anguish 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  so  many  lives.  On  the  following 
morning  the  public  journals  contained  the  verification  of  all 
she  had  said,  in  the  details  of  the  mournful  disaster,  so  mys- 
teriously foreshadowed  and  so  graphically  portrayed  at  the 
very  hour  of  the  fatal  occurrence. 

Mrs.  Swisshelm,  in  her  public  correspondence,  records 
certain  prophecies  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson,  who,  in  1855, 
was  settled  in  Alleghany  City.  Among  the  events  predicted 
were  the  great  fire  of  1845,  in  Pittsburg;  the  Mexican  war 
and  its  results  : the  war  between  Russia  and  the  Western 
Powers,  and  the  speedy  limitation  of  the  political  power  of 
the  Pope.  It  may  be  very  improper  to  recognize  a prophet 
in  Alleghany  City,  but  it  is  worthy  of  remark  tliat  the  events 
foretold  have  become  history.  Had  this  Professor  of  The- 
ology lived  two  or  three  thousand  years  ago,  and  on  the 
riglit  side  of  the  Hlgean  and  Mediterranean  seas,  he  would, 
doubtless,  have  enjoyed  a fair  reputation  by  this  time.  But 
Mr.  Wilson  is  probably  alive  yet,  and  it  is  decreed  by  an 
ancient  proverb,  that  a prophet  may  not  hope  to  have  honor 
in  his  own  country.’’ 

/ Mr.  John  F.  Coles  published  in  the  New  York  Daily 
Times,  of  the  date  of  December  3d,  1854,  and  more  fully  in 
the  Sunday  Dispatch,  of  December  10th,  a propliecy  of  the 
death  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas.  Having  declared,  on  tlie 
night  of  the  29th  of  November,  that  in  tliree  montlis  more  — 
reckoning  from  that  hour — tlie  sudden  death  of  a crowned 
licad  would  astonisli  and  bewilder  tlie  magnates  of  the  Old 
World  ; and  having  also  compnred  the  monarchies  of  Europe 


THE  LAW  OP  PROPHECY. 


429 


to  a stupendous  pyramid,  which  could  be  demolished  by  re- 
moving one  stone  at  a time,  the  prophetic  utterance — having 
reference  to  the  Emperor — was  thus  continued  : — “ There  is 
trouble  brewing  between  Nicholas  and  Menschikoff.  Nicho- 
las is  the  top  stone  of  the  European  pyramid.  For  thirty 
years  he  has  lain  quietly  in  his  bed.  The  earth  around  the 
base  is  loosened — the  top  stone  is  already  in  motion.’^  It  is 
a fact  that  in  just  tliree  months  from  the  date  of  this  prophecy 
— making  the  proper  allowance  for  the  difference  of  time 
between  St.  Petersburgli  and  New  York — the  late  Emperor 
of  Russia  died,  suddenly  ; and  the  last  public  act  of  his  life 
was  the  removal  of  Menschikoff  from  his  command  at  Sebas- 
topol, and  the  appointment  of  another  General  in  his  place. 
It  will  be  perceived  that  these  facts  were  published  by  the 
American  press,  three  months  before  they  were  made  known 
at  St.  Petersburg;  and  the  principal  fact  - the  death  of  the 
Czar — ninety  days  before  the  event  occurred.*^ 

' Among  the  German  peasantry  are  many  persons  who  have 

1 “ There  is  something  so  pointed  and  direct  of  Kossuth  as  a prophet, 
that  we  cannot  pass  it  by.  I allude  to  the  prophecy  uttered  in  his  speech 
at  Glasgow.  His  spirit,  yearning  over  prostrate,  sorrowing  nations,  broke 
forth  in  that  speech,  and  he  p’rophesied  to  England  and  the  world,  that  the 
proud  alliance  armed  against  Russia  could  not  triumph  while  its  goal  was 
but  the  propping  of  old  despotisms,  and  not  the  ireedom  of  enslaved  peoples. 
He  prophesied  that  the  great  fleets  and  armies  wou' d fail  ; that  the  steppes 
of  the  Crimea  would  become  the  sepulchers  of  Briton  and  Frank,  ere  victory 
should  crown  the  Honed  and  eagled  flags  ; that  of  all  the  brave  souls  sent, 
up  to  that  hour,  from  Albion’s  shore,  to  war  to  a false  end,  not  one  in  five 
would  ever  return.  Many  believed  his  words,  and  even  the  heart  of  throned 
power  trembled  at  the  prophecy  ; but  the  alliance  kept  on  its  way.  A few 
months  have  elapsed,  and  every  line  of  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled.  The 
alliance  is  baffled  — four  out  of  five  of  ‘England’s  braves’  have  fallen; 
eleven  thousand  widows,  brooding  over  their  semi-ophaned  children  and  des- 
olate homes,  wail  aloud  in  confirmation  of  the  Prophet.” — Caklos  D.  Rtcaut. 


430 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


remarkable  prescience,  and  the  power  to  foresee  events  is 
often  possessed  by  those  simple-hearted  people.  In  1850  a 
collection  of  their  prophecies  was  published  in  BlacJauoocVs 
Magazine.  , I can  only  cite  a single  example  in  this  connection : 

“A  Westphalian  shepherd,  by  the  name  of  Jaspers,  a sincere  and  devout 
man,  predicted  in  1830 — before  the  construction  of  the  first  English  railway 
— that  just  before  his  death  ‘ a great  road  would  be  carried  through  the 
country,  from  west  to  east,  which  will  pass  through  the  forest  of  Bodol- 
schwing.  On  this  road  carriages  will  run  without  horses,  and  cause  a 
dreadful  noise.  At  the  commencement  of  this  work,  great  scarcity  will 
prevail.  . . Before  this  road  is  quite  completed,  a frightful  war  will 
break  out,  in  which  a small  Northern  Bower  will  be  conqueror.” ' 

Jaspers  has  gone  to  dwell  with  the  elder  prophets  in  the 
fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd  ; but  his  predictions  have  been 
literally  verified.  The  line  of  railway  from  Cologne  to 
Minden  is  through  the  district  mentioned  in  the  propliecy. 
Before  the  road  was  finished  the  partial  famine  occurred, 
and  also  the  war,  in  which  “a  small  Northern  Power  (Den- 
mark) was  conqueror.’’ 

Dr.  Justo  Sahaurauria,  of  the  ancient  Peruvian  city  of 
Cuzco,  who  claimed — on  what  appeared  to  be  convincing 
evidence — to  be  a lineal  descendant  from  Huaynaccapac,  the 
last  reigning  Inca,  addressed  a letter  to  President  Taylor, 
containing  some  curious'  facts  illustrative  of  the  proplietic 
inspiration  of  the  aboriginal  Peruvians,  A son  of  the  ven- 
erable Doctor  was  burned  alive  in  the  plaza  of  Caxamorca, 
by  the  Spanish  conquerors  of  the  country.  I extract  the 
following  from'the  letter  to  General  Taylor,  from  whicli  it 
will  appear  that  the  royal  and  sacerdotal  classes  of  that 
peculiar  people  enjoyed  the  light  of  the  proplietic  spirit : 

“ When  the  Spaniards  entered  fhe  Beruviau  empire,  they  found  in  the 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


431 


principal  temple  of  Cuzco  various  prophecies,  and  among  them  one  which 
foretold  the  dostniction  of  the  empire,  together  with  its  rites  and  ceremonies  ; 
and  that  this  was  to  take  place  in  the  reign  of  the  twelfth  Emperor.  When 
the  Emperor  Hiiaynaccapac  was  told  by  his  vassals  in  Tumpis,  that  there 
had  appeared  on  the  coast  certain  canoe-like  houses,  the  crews  of  which 
were  composed  of  bearded  men,  he  said  that  a tradition  existed  among  the 
members  of  the  royal  family  to  the  effect,  that  there  should  come  from  be- 
yond the  sea  an  unknown  p<"ople  who  would  destroy  the  empire  its  religion, 
rights  and  ceremonies,  and  that  this  was  to  take  place  in  the  reign  of  the 
twelfth  Emperor  ; and  as  he  was  the  twelfth,  the  prediction  was  doubtless 
about  to  be  fulfilled.” 

The  prophetic  impulse  may  be  experienced  long  before 
tlie  occurrence  of  the  event,  and  it  may  also  be  accompanied 
by  impressions  made  through  the  nerves  of  special  sensation. 

I extract  the  following  illustration  of  this  kind  from  the 
Memoirs  of  the  German  poet,  Goethe : 

“ Notwithstanding  the  anxiety  and  extreme  affliction  I felt,  I could  not  y 
withstand  the  desire  of  seeing  Frederica  once  more  ; it  was  a cruel  day  to 
ns,  and  its  circumstances  will  never  be  effaced  from  my  memory.  When  I 
had  mounted  my  horse  and  offered  my  hand  for  the  last  time,  I saw  tears 
swimming  in  her  eyes,  and  my  heart  suffered  as  much  as  hers.  I proceeded 
along  a path  that  leads  to  Drusenheim,  when  a strange  vision,  which  must 
have  been  a presentiment,  suddenly  disturbed  my  mind  I thought  I saw 
my  own  image  advancing  toward  me  on  horseback,  in  the  same  road.  The 
figure  wore  a grey  coat  with  gold  lace,  such  as  I had  never  worn.  This 
singular  illusion  diverted  my  thoughts,  for  the  time,  from  the  grief  of  part- 
ing ; I felt  my  regret  at  quitting  this  fine  country,  and  all  that  was  lovely 
and  beloved  in  it,  gradually  softened  ; I roused  myself  at  length  from  the 
extreme  affliction  in  which  this  farewell  day  had  plunged  me,  and  I pursued 
my  journey  with  greater  serenity.  It  is  singular  enough  that  eight  years 
after,  as  I was  going  to  see  Frederica  once  more,  I found  myself  in  the  same 
road,  dressed  as  T had  dreamed — and  wearing  such  a coat,  accidentally,  and, 
without  having  chosen  it  ” 

The  material  philosophers  would  hastily  dispose  of  this 


432 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


case  by  saying  that  the  figure  resembling  Goethe  was  only 
an  optical  or  spectral  illusion,  and  that  his  subsequent  i-eturn 
in  the  costume  of  the  phantom  was  merely  a circumstantial 
coincidence.  This  assertion  is  easily  made,  but  it  involves 
no  explanation.  Why  the  Poet’s  brain  should,  at  that  par- 
ticular time,  project  an  image  of  himself — in  a dress  he  had 
never  worn,  and  was  not  therefore  likely  to  conceive  of — is  a 
question  that  finds  no  proper  solution  in  a flippant  and  shal- 
low assumption.  Moreover,  why  such  a vision  should  afford 
immediate  relief  from  mental  suffering,  and  restore  a serene 
state  of  mind,  does  not  appear  from  any  suggestion,  derived 
from  the  illusion  hypothesis.  But  if  it  be  admitted  that  in- 
visible, intelligent  beings  may  have  an  interest  in  mundane 
affairs,  and  that  they  may  establish  psychological  relations 
with  the  human  mind  on  earth,  so  as  to  influence  sensation, 
awaken  emotions,  and  inspire  thoughts,  all  similar  mysteries 
may  be  readily  and  philosophically  explained. 

'ibCardiere,  an  improvisatore  of  remarkable  ability,  and  a 
personal  friend  of  Michael  Angelo,  was  employed  in  the 
house  of  Piero,  where  he  exercised  his  singular  powers  of 
improvisation  by  singing  on  festive  and  other  occasions,  with 
a lyre  accompaniment.  This  man,  while  in  the  presence  of 
Angelo,  predicted  that  Piero  would  be  driven  from  his  house 
to  return  no  more.  The  great  painter  attached  so  much 
importance  to  this  statement  that  he  urged  his  friend  to 
communicate  his  conviction  to  Piero,  but  Cardiere  hesitated 
from  an  apprehension  of  unpleasant  consequences.  Subse- 
quently Michael  Angelo,  meeting  Cardiere  in  the  cortile  of 
the  palace,  observed  that  the  latter  was  terrified  and  sor- 
rowful. The  prophetic  impression  rested  with  increased 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


4B3 


weight  on  his  mind.  Angelo  reproved  him  for  neglecting 
to  disclose  his  apprehensions  to  the  party  whom  they  most 
deeply  concerned.  At  length  Cardiere  resolved  to  hazard 
the  consequences  of  tlie  proposed  disclosures,  and  accord- 
ingly started  on  foot  for  the  villa  belonging  to  the  Medici 
family,  which  was  situated  about  three  miles  from  Florence. 
While  on  the  way  he  met  Piero  and  his  suit,  who  laughed  at 
the  revelation  and  ridiculed  the  fears  of  the  prophet,  one  of 
the.  number — afterward  Cardinal  de  Bibbiena — telling  him 
that  he  was  out  of  his  mind. 

The  result  of  this  interview  was  the  humiliation  of  Car- 
diere, who  deplored  the  consequences ; but  Michael  Angelo, 
becoming  persuaded  that  the  prediction  was  likely  to  be  ful- 
filled, left  Florence,  with  two  of  his  companions,  and  went  to 
Bologna.  The  biographer  of  Michael  Angelo  adds  : — “ To 
whatever  cause  this  prediction  may  be  attributed,  it  so  hap- 
pened that  it  was  verified  ; for  the  family  de  Medici,  with 
all  their  suit,  were  driven  from  Florence  and  arrived  at  Bo- 
logna while  Michael  Angelo  was  there,  and  lodged  in  the 
house  de  Rossi  ; Piero  himself  never  returned  to  Florence, 

but  after  sufiering  a succession  of  mortifications  came  to  an 

y 

untimely  death.’’* 

Among  the  persons  especially  gifted  with  the  power  to 
discern  future  events,  Friar  Bacon  deserves  particular  notice 
as  one  whose  remarkable  prophecies  have  been  most  liter- 
ally fulfilled.  Six  hundred  years  ago  some  of  the  greatest 
modern  inventions  were  thus  foreshadowed  by  his  prophetic 
inspiration  : 

“Bridges,  unsupported  by  arches,  will  be  made  to  span  the  foaming 

1 The  authority  for  this  statement  is  Duppa’s  Life  of  Michael  Angelo 


434 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


current.  Man  shall  descend  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  safely  breathing, 
and  treading  with  firm  step  on  the  golden  sands,  never  brightened  by  the 
light  of  day.  Call  but  the  sacred  powers  of  Sol  and  Luna  into  action,  and 
behold  a single  steersman  sitting  at  the  helm,  guiding  the  vessel,  which 
divides  the  waves  with  greater  rapidity  than  if  she  had  been  filled  with  a 
crew  of  mariners  toiling  at  the  oars ; and  the  loaded  chariot  no  longer 
encumbered  by  the  panting  steeds,  shall  dart  on  its  course  with  resistless 
force  and  rapidity.  Let  the  simple  elements  do  the  labor  ; bind  the  eternal 
forces  and  yoke  them  to  the  same  plow  ” 

When  the  foregoing  predictions  were  made  the  author  must 
have  been  regarded  as  a poet,  or  an  early  speculator  infancy 
stocks,  rather  than  as  a rational  philosopher  or  a reliable 
seer.  It  will  be  perceived  that  he  embraces  the  Suspension 
Bridge,  the  Diving  Bell,  Steam  Navigation,  tlie  Railroad 
and  the  Steam  Plow,  in  the  same  chain  of  prophecies,  and 
all  of  which  are  among  the  accoinplislicd  realities  of  to-day.  ’ 
The  seclusion  of  the  cloister,  and  the  rigid  discipline  of  his 
monastic  life,  did  not  prevent  the  soul  of  the  monk  from  as- 
serting its  relations  to  the  great  practical  interests  of  time. 
By  the  exercise  of  a sublime  power  the  veil  of  the  temple  of 
his  spirit  was  rent,  that  he  might  look  out  from  the  dim  re- 
ligious liglit  of  tlie  monastery,  far  over  the  cloudy  summits 
of  the  intervening  ages,  and  behold  tlie  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  modern  Science  and  Art. 

y^'Jeanne  dWrc,  the  spotless  shepherd  girl,  came  from  the 
solitudes  of  the  forest  that  environed  her  native  village  of 
Domremy,  to  be  the  grave  counsellor  of  kings  and  tlie  de- 
fender of  her  country.  The  shepherds  of  Bethlehem  were 

* Friar  Bacon  was  doubtless  Ihe  original  inventor  of  the  telescope  ; and 
it  is  evident  that  be  had  a correct  idea  of  the  composition  of  gunpowder, 
for  be  affirms  that  by  the  use  of  charcoal,  sulphur  and  sail  peter,  the  phe- 
nomena of  thunder  and  lightning  may  be  successfully  imitated. 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


435 


honored  by  an  Ang-el’s  visit,  and  the  proclamation  of  ‘ gdad 
tidings  to  all  people  and  this  fair  shepherdess — at  once  so 
comely  in  person,  elevated  in  spirit,  and  divinely  beautiful 
in  her  life,  with  the  freshness  and  bloom  of  the  hills  and 
valleys  on  her  cheek,  and  the  fire  of  genius  in  her  eye — like- 
wise professed  to  commune  with  departed  saints  and  heroes  ; 
to  have  visions  of  immortal  realities,  and  to  hear  the  voices 
of  angelic  ministers.  And  why  may  they  not  have  spoken  to 
her  ? If  they  addressed  those  who  watched  their  flocks  on 
the  plains  of  Judea,  surely  this  pure-hearted  and  divinely- 
gifted  shepherdess  of  Domremy  was  not  beneath  their  regard. 
She  also  was  called  by  Providence,  being  inspired  with  a 
divine  life  and  prophetic  spirit.  Such  was  the  virgin  Evange- 
list, whose  foot  prints  are  yet  “ beautiful  on  the  mountains’^ 
of  Lorraine./ 

The  spirit  of  prophecy  taught  the  Maid  of  Orleans  that 
she  was  to  be  instrumental  in  restoring  the  nationality  of 
France.  She  believed  ; and  suddenly  emerging  from  the 
quiet  seclusion  of  her  pastoral  life,  she  went  forth  to  battle 
against  the  enemies  of' her  king  and  country.  Rising  thus 
from  an  obscure  position,  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  she 
at  once  assumed  the  direction  of  public  affairs,  and  became 
tlie  chief  inspiring  agent  of  the  French  people.  The  King 
of  England  was  ready  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  scepter  of 
France  ; Orleans  was  closely  besieged  ; Charles  Mil. — the 
heir  of  the  throne — was  irresolute  in  the  assertion  of  his 
claim,  and  the  people  were  divided.  The  shadow  of  a great 
cross  was  in  the  path  of  the  fair  chieftain,  but  she  was  too 
heroic  either  to  falter  or  turn  aside.  Never  regarding  her 
personal  safety,  she  cheerfully  obeyed  the  summons,  but  with 


436 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


the  calm  consciousness  that  she  must  uphold  the  throne  and 
deliver  her  people  by  the  sacrifice  of  herself. 

It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  that  Joan  of  Arc  sought 
the  presence  of  Charles,  who,  with  a view  of  testing  her 
peculiar  powers,  protested  that  he  was  not  the  King.  But 
disregarding  his  words  and  passing  by  his  courtiers,  she  fell 
at  his  ff^et,  and  proposed  to  raise  the  siege  and  conduct  him 
to  his  coronation  at  Rheims,  She  demanded  a particular 
sword  in  the  Church  of  St.  Catherine.  The  King  acquiesced, 
and  the  consecrated  weapon  was  placed  in  her  hands.  With 
courage  equal  to  the  most  trying  situation  ; with  an  un waver- 
ing faith  in  the  accomplishment  of  her  purpose,  and  the 
sublime  enthusiasm  of  a Christian  Apostle,  she  led  the  armies 
of  France  to  victory  and  her  King  to  his  throne.  Having 
placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  its  rightful  possessor,  she 
felt  that  the  chief  object  of  her  mission  was  accomplished  ; 
but  she  continued  in  the  same  perilous  service  until  she  was 
taken  prisoner  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

Jeanne  dWrc  was  but  nineteen  years  of  age  when  she  was 
brought  to  trial  for  sorcery.  The  noblest  virtues  and  graces 
which  have  ever  adorned  the  human  character,  had  been 
beautifully  exemplified  in  her  life.  Not  a single  deed  of 
cruelty,  a word  of  irreverence,  or  so  much  as  a feeling  of 
selfishness  could  be  justly  charged  to  her  account.  Neverthe- 
less she  was  reviled  as  an  apostate,  and  condemned  by  her 
heartless  inquisitors  to  be  burnt  alive.  She  accepted  the 
crown  of  martyrdom  with  cheerful  grace  and  religious  resig- 
nation— apparently  with  as  much  cordiality  as  she  had  placed 
the  crown  of  France  on  the  head  of  her  king.  On  the  char- 
acter of  the  duke  of  Bedford — third  son  of  Henry  lY.  of 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


437 


England— rests  the  foul  stain  of  causing  her  execution  in  the 
public  market-place  at  Rouen.  When  the  torch  was  applied 
to  the  faggots,  she  betrayed  no  weakness.  Those  who  crucified 
her  looked  in  vain  for  some  sign  of  irresolution  and  feeling 
of  displeasure  ; but  her  solemn  purpose  to  meet  death  with 
composure  was  unshaken,  and  the  serenity  of  her  mind  un- 
disturbed. Thus  ran  the  pure  current  of  her  life  toward  the 
shoreless  ocean, 

“Like  a clear  streamlet  o’er  its  jagged  bed, 

That  by  no  torture  can  be  hushed  asleep.” 

She  did  not  die  ; but,  robed  with  flaming  fire,  went  up  to  her 
great  immortality ! Her  last  words  were  spent  in  prayer, 
and  the  name  of  Jesus  was  on  her  lip  when  the  remorseless 
flames  stifled  her  utterance.  A purer  spirit  never  ascended 
to  the  Father.  The  scene  was  impressive  beyond  descrip- 
tion. An  English  soldier  who  had  avowed  his  readiness  to 
add  fuel  to  the  burning  pile  was  smitten  and  overwhelmed 
by  the  moral  grandeur  of  this  last  conquest— the  victory 
OVER  DEATH !—  and  turning  from  the  thrilling  spectacle,  in 
deep  contrition,  he  declared  that  from  the  ashes  of  the  martyr 
a dove  with  white  pinions  went  up  to  heaven.y/ 

Among  the  problems  that  have  puzzled  the  brains  of  the 
metaphysicians,  the  frequent  cases  of  Prevision  are  among 
the  last  in  their  judgment  to  admit  of  a satisfactory  solution. 
The  foregoing  examples  will  suffice  to  show  that  many  persons 
sre  susceptible  of  such  impressions.  With  a certain  class  of 
minds  they  are  day-light  experiences  ; but  they  happen  to  a 
much  larger  number  during  the  hours  of  sleep.  It  may  not 
be  the  peculiar  province  of  the  writer  to  trace  out  the  more 
obscure  and  intricate  lines  in  the  complex  w^eb  of  our  mental 


438 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


operations.  We  may  not  always  determine  in  what  manner 
natural  (physical)  principles  and  moral  laws  coalesce  in  the 
economy  of  human  life.  It  may  often  be  difficult  to  discern 
]irecisely  wliere  they  meet,  and  how  they  cooperate  in  the 
dynamics  of  universal  existence  and  progress  ; nevertheless, 
the  results  of  their  united  action  are  constantly  subject  to 
our  inspection. 

^Without  presuming  to  dogmatize  on  so  intricate  a subject, 
I will  here  suggest  my  idea  of  the  law  of  prophecy.  In  the 
most  essential  sense  all  things  have  a permanent  existence, 
extending  backward  through  the  long  chain  of  causation  and 
forward  through  the  unlimited  succession  of  immediate  effects 
and  remote  consequences ; and  as  all  events  really  exist  in 
the  causes  that  produce  them,  before  they  actually  transpire 
in  the  outward  world  of  effects,  it  naturally  follows  that 
wlienever  the  mind — by  vdiatever  means -is  uplifted  to  the 
proper  moral  and  spiritual  altitude,  it  perceives  the  event 
before  it  occurs  in  the  sphere  of  outward  manifestation.  Tlie 
man  gifted  with  prevision  foresees  what  will  happen,  hecause 
he  is  able  to  discover  the  operative  causes  tuhich  already  exist, 
and  must  inevitably  develop  the  apprehended,  results.  Thus 
our  premonitions  ; the  visions  of  future  occurrences  ; and 
every  prophetic  impulse,  may  be  subject  to  law  and  suscep- 
tible of  a rational  explanation. 

When  an  event  depends  on  the  secret  designs  of  individ- 
uals, or  the  general  state  of  public  feeling,  its  future  occur- 
rence may  be  readily  apprehended,  for  the  reason  that  the 
prescient  mind  may  be  en  rapport  with  the  })erson  or  people 
actuated  by  such  purposes  and  passions  as  must  inevitably 
find  their  ultimate  expression  in  the  predicted  events.  For 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


439 


example,  should  an  incendiary  either  conceive  the  idea  or 
entertain  the  design,  of  firing  his  neighbor’s  dwelling,  or  a 
band  of  conspirators  plot  the  overthrow  of  the  government, 
the  mind  gifted  with  this  subtile  power  of  cognition  might — 
agreeably  to  psychological  laws — perceive  the  existence  of 
such  criminal  designs  as  soon  as  they  were  formed,  and  thus 
be  enabled  to  predict  their  consummation. 

Many  cases  of  prophecy  are  doubtless  to  be  referred  to 
this  perception — by  the  prescient  mind — of  existing  princi- 
ples and  laws  which  are  yet  to  find  an  ultimate  expression 
in  cosmical  changes  and  human  affairs.  The  forces  and  fac-' 
ulties  of  simple  elements  and  organized  beings,  are  superior 
to  the  mere  material  processes  and  functions  which  result 
from  their  action.  In  like  manner  all  causes  precede  their 
effects  in  the  order  of  time.  If  we  can  perceive  existing 
causes,  we  may  anticipate  future  events,  with  a degree  of 
precision — in  respect  to  time,  place,  and  other  circumstances 
--only  equal  to  the  clearness  of  our  perception,  and  the 
accuracy  of  the  judgment  employed  in  estimating  the  opera- 
tion of  inward  principles  in  the  production  of  external  de- 
velopments. The  intervention  of  lunnan  acts  and  motives, 
in  any  supposed  case,  may  serve  to  complicate  the  instru- 
mentalities employed  without  obscuring  the  event  which  they 
combine  to  produce.  W e may  predict  that  the  tree  will  de- 
cay if  we  can  perceive  the  omniverous  worm  at  its  root. 
Political  prophets  see  the  decline  and  fall  of  empires,  in  and 
through  the  existing  causes  of  national  weakness  and  degen- 
eracy. If  the  measure  of  life  on  earth  be  determined  by  the 
strength  of  the  life  principle  in  the  individual,  and  otherwise 
by  the  operation  of  undeviating  laws,  it  may  be  possible  for 


440 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


an  illuminated  mind  to  perceive  the  measure  of  the  vital  force, 
and  to  comprehend  those  laws  wliich  determine  the  limits  of 
physical  endurance.  But  in  order  to  accurately  number  our 
days,  the  prescient  mind  must  correctly  estimate  the  vital 
capacity,  and  accurately  wei^di  all  the  circumstances  likely 
to  modify  the  conditions  of  being.  When  the  rare  gifts  and 
comprehensive  powers  of  the  prophetic  seer  and  the  true  phi- 
losopher are  thus  united  in  the  same  individual,  he  may  be 
able  to  foretell  events  with  surprising  accuracy.  Occasion- 
ally, a physician — whose  profound  insight  qualifies  him  to 
comprehend  the  influence  of  certain  forms  of  disease  on  the 
vital  principle  and  organic  action— is  enabled  to  predict  the 
day,  and  possibly  the  very  hour  when  the  death  of  his  patient 
will  occur  ; and  the  prognosis  sometimes  embraces  the  more 
important  symptoms  that  precede  and  accompany  the  final 
suspension  of  vital  motion.^ 

It  may  be  objected  that  our  limited  observation  and  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  the  subject  do  not  warrant  the  suppo- 
sition that  prophetic  communications  result  from  the  slow 
process  of  deliberate  reflection  and  logical  deduction.  On 
the  contrary,  they  appear  to  be  spontaneous  utterances  of 
unexpected  revelations  It  is  not  difficult  to  suggest  the 
proper  answer  to  tliis  objection.  We  have  had  occasion  to 
intimate  already  that  the  mind,  in  its  most  exalted  moods. 


1 Thomas  Devin  Reilly,  who  figured  in  an  editorial  capacity  in  the  Irish 
journals  in  1848,  and  subsequently  as  a writer  for  the  Democratic  Review, 
died  at  Washington,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1854.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  ho 
had  an  attack  of  apoplexy,  and  was  successfully  treated  by  a celebrated 
surgeon  of  Dublin,  who  expressed  the  conviction  that  he  would  have  another 
attack  at  the  age  of  thirty,  which  would  either  dostro}^  his  life  or  shatter 
his  constitution.  The  second  attack  occurred  as  predicted  and  was  fatal. 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


441 


acts  witli  preternatural  force  and  precision.  In  the  depart- 
ment of  matlicinatical  science,  several  modern  prodigies  have 
appeared,  who  could  solve  the  most  difficult  problems  in  an 
instant,  and  with  infallible  certainty.  In  those  physical  and 
psychological  conditions  which  involve  tlie  greatest  intellec- 
tual freedom  and  moral  elevation  the  intuitive  mind  instantly 
comprehends  many  particulars,  and  arrives  at  final  results 
witli  amar.ing  rnpidity;  as  the  eye,  at  a glance,  takes  in  the 
intervening  space  and  objects,  between  the  observer  and  the 
utmost  limit  of  his  vision. 

Doubtless  the  common  and  the  extraordinary  events  of  the 
world,  and  all  visible  phenomena  result  from  invisible  physi-' 
cal,  mental  and  moral  forces  and  laws,  and  hence  they  must: 
virtually  exist,  in  the  most  essential  sense,  some  time  before^ 
they  occur  in  the  external  world,  where  alone  they  are  cog-! 
nizable  by  the  powers  of  sensation.  The  truth  of  this  pro- 
position is  rendered  so  obvious,  by  the  very  nature  of.  the  case, 
that  it  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  rational  mind.  But 
the  facts,  in  this  particular  department,  that  suggest  the  great- 
est possible  difficulties  are  those  that  appear  to  be  fortuitous. 
The  destruction  of  property  and  life  is  often  casual,  and  many 
other  circumstances  and  occurrences  appear  to  be  accidental. 
The  chief  difficulty  here  consists  in  the  apparent  absence  of 
any  natural  law  in  such  cases.  In  the  common  mind  an  acci- 
dent is  an  occurrence  that  does  not  depend  on  any  natural 
principle  or  established  law.  The  popular  definition  is  doubt- 
less a false  one,  that  serves  to  magnify  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  a philosophical  explanation  of  such  mysteries.  Never- 
theless, these  casualties  are  not  so  easily  disposed  of  as  many 
otlier  facts  in  human  experience.  When  our  dwellings  decay, 


442 


AIAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


by  slow  degrees,  from  the  natural  action'' of  the  elements  ; 
when  the  tree  withers  in  consequence  of  the  gradual  loss  of 
its  vitality  ; and  when  liuman  bodies  are  dissolved  because 
they  are  rendered  unserviceable  by  time —or  some  disaster 
lias  made  them  unsuitable  tenements  for  the  developed  spirit 
— we  can  readily  apprehend  the  existence,  and  to  some  extent 
the  nature  of  tlie  laws  that  govern  these  results.  But  when 
the  tree  is  either  uprooted  by  a tornado  or  blasted  by  a thun- 
derbolt ; when  our  house  is  fired  by  lightning  or  the  care- 
lessness of  a domestic  ; when  steam-boilers  explode  and  men 
lose  their  lives  in  consequence ; when  ships  collide  at  sea  and 
multitudes  sink  beneatli  the  wave,  because  the  night-watch 
for  a moment  slept  at  his  post ; it  may  be  far  more  difficult 
to  perceive  how  the  event  can  be  foretold  with  certainty  by 
any  mundane  intelligence. 

I But  the  utmost  limits  of  the  finite  capacity  are  not  to  be 
determined  by  the  standard  of  our  individual  powers  and  at- 
tainments ; nor  does  the  inability  to  perceive  a law  disprove 
its  existence.  Only  a shallow  mind,  intoxicated  with  self- 
conceit  and  blinded  by  an  infidel  skepticism,  will  presume 
to  measure  all  natural  laws  and  divine  prerogatives  .by  its 
own  want  of  perception  and  lack  of  knowledge.  Moreover, 
if  there  are  intelligent  beings,  of  a superior  order,  existing 
either  here  or  elsewhere,  they  may  be  capable  of  entering 
into  psychological  relations  with  the  human  mind  on  earth ; 
and  it  is  consistent  with  our  highest  reason  to  infer,  that  they 
may  have  some  interest  in  human  affairs.  From  the  high 
plain  of  their  divine  life  and  thought  the  past  and  future  of 
this  world  may  be  clearly  revealed,  and  the  events  of  cen- 
turies, in  their  relations  to  the  universal  chain  of  causation, 


THE  LAW  OF  PROPHECY. 


443 


may  be  present  to  the  angelic  perception  and  consciousness. 
If  such  beings  exist  and  are  attracted  to  us,  either  by  the 
memory  of  former  natural  relations ; the  laws  of  spiritual 
afiQnity,  or  by  a disinterested  desire  for  our  elevation,  tliey 
may  inspire  the  human  mind  with  their  own  superior  wisdom. 
The  possibility  of  such  intervention  will  certainly  be  admit- 
ted in  any  enlightened  view  of  the  philosophy  of  prophecy.  ’ ' 
To  the  mind  of  the  prophetic  Seer  not  only  the  past  is 
present,  but  the  great  future  may  be  comprehended  within 
the  field  of  his  mysterious  vision,  long  before  Time  unrolls 
the  panorama  of  events.  Wide  as  the  sphere  of  intelligent 
existence,  and  the  arena  of  our  spiritual  activities  ; deep  as 
the  springs  of  life,  and  high  as  the  latent  capabilities  of  the 
aspiring  mind,  is  this  faith  in  these  sublime  possibilities  of 
human  nature.  There  are  illuminated  souls  who  stand 
within  the  veil,  while  they  break  the  seals  of  the  book  of 
fate  and  unfold  our  destiny.  We  have  physiological  Seers 
who  measure  the  vital  forces  and  determine  the  limits  of 
organic  action  ; political  Seers  who  anticipate  the  rise,  pro- 
gress, fall  and  desolation  of  empires  ; spiritual  Seers  who 
unveil  the  arcana  of  the  Invisible  World  ; and  the  effigies  of 
many  prophets  occupy  the  common  Pantheon  of  all  Religions 
/Many  terrible  events  have  cast  their  shadows  on  the  world, 
obscuring  its  hopes  and  darkening  the  pages  of  its  history, 
and  sensitive  natures  have  struggled  long  and  fearfully  with 
a cruel  destiny.  The  heavy  cross,  the  crown  of  thorns,  and 
the  wormwood  and  gall,  are  expressive  symbols  of  the  com- 

1 ‘‘It  is  a sublime  and  beautiful  doc*xine,  inculcated  by  the  fathers,  that 
there  are  guardian  angels  appointed  to  watch  over  cities  and  nations,  to 
take  care  of  good  m^n,  and  to  guard  and  guide  the  footsteps  of  helpless 
infancy.”—  Irving. 


28 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


4<i4 

raon  crucifixion.  But  it  is  a fact  of  profound  significance 
that  the  inspired  minds  of  different  ages  and  countries,  in 
their  most  exalted  moods,  have  anticipated  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  good  over  evil  and  a peaceful  future  for  the 
earth  and  its  inhabitants.  That  period  may  be  far  away  ; 
but  it  is  comprehended  in  the  faith  of  the  world.  Oppres- 
sion and  War  may  triumph  for  a season,  but  the  universal 
hope,  and  the  Christian’s  prayer  for  the  coming  of  a divine 
kingdom  on  earth,  must  have  some  basis  in  reality.  In  the 
sublime  vision  of  Isaiah  the  liberating  Eras  rise  in  their 
majesty,  and  the  songs  of  great  poets  ring  out  like  sphere- 
music  along  the  path  of  the  departed  Ages.  They  all  sing  ’ 
of  the  time  when  the  Divine  harmonies  shall  be  translated 
into  the  practical  language  of  human  actions  and  institutions. 
The  faint  and  distant  images  of  that  day,  dazzled  the  sight 
of  the  ancient  Bards,  and  the  slumbering  strings  of  many 
harps  were  swept  to  their  highest  notes  of  inspiration.) 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 

Preliminary  Observations— Extraordinary  Experience  of  a Lady— Facts 
from  “ The  Night  Side  of  Nature” — Professor  Becker  meets  his  own 
Shade — An  Apparition  appeals  to  Linnaeus — A Man  goes  to  Europe 
without  his  Body — Mysterious  Interview  in  a London  Coffee-house — 
Mr.  Wilson  is  visible  in  Hamilton  while  he  is  dreaming  in  Toronto— 
An  Actor  in  New  York  when  be  is  in  Washington — A Lunatic  in  and 
out  of  the  Asylum  at  the  same  time— Apparition  of  the  late  Joseph  T. 
Bailey — Midnight  Visit  to  a Boudoir  in  Lafayette  Place — The  Author’s 
Shadow  in  Louisville  when  his  Substance  is  Five  Hundred  Miles  off — 
Exciting  Scene  in  a Ball-room— Refutation  of  Sir  David  Brewster’s 
Theory — Assumptions  of  the  Sadducean  Philosophers— Explanation  of 
the  Phenomena. 

The  relations  and  laws  of  the  human  mind  are  such,  that 
whenever  two  individuals  are  in  sympathetic  association, 
the  one  may  very  naturally  feel  the  presence  or  influence  of 
the  other.  In  this  case  the  mind  that  is  gifted  with  the 
greater  degree  of  activity  and  power  at  once  becomes  an  in- 
spiring agent  to  the  other.  The  psycho-magnetic  rapport 
may  be  established  by  corporeal  contact,  or  otherwise,  through 
those  subtile  media  which  pervade  the  Universe  and  serve 
as  the  airy  vehicles  of  intelligent  intercourse.  In  like  man- 
ner, from  sources  superior  to  ourselves,  the  very  elements  of 
thought  flow  into  our  minds  ; and  thus  the  intellect  is  quick- 
ened, the  moral  sentiments  inspired,  and  the  nobler  passions 
of  the  soul  awakened.  Even  every  living  thing,  according 
to  its  peculiar  nature  and  discrete  degree,  derives  a kind  of 
inspiration  from  higher  elements  and  forms  of  life. 


446 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


The  psychological  powers  and  susceptibilities  of  the  mind 
are  illustrated  by  the  occasional  appearance  of  living  men 
at  a distance  from  their  bodies.  Tliere  are  many  facts  of 
this  class  that  may  be  clearly  authenticated,  and  tlieir  pro- 
found significance  entitles  them  to  special  consideration  in 
the  present  treatise.  The  reader’s  attention  has  already 
been  called  to  various  phenomena  that  suggest  at  least  the 
possibility  of  Apparitions  of  the  Living.  Every  example  of 
the  transmission  of  thought,  from  one  mind  to  another,  by 
mental  telegraph — without  the  use  of  language  or  any  recog- 
nized medium  of  communication — involves  such  a suggestion. 
If  an  absent  friend  may  be  made  to  feel  the  action  of  the 
faculties  and  passions  of  our  minds,  this  fact  may  neither 
determine  the  limits  of  our  mental  powers,  nor  discover  in 
our  friend  the  last  degree  of  psychological  impressibility. 
Indeed,  many  persons  who  receive  impressions  in  this  way 
have,  at  the  same  time,  a vague,  mysterious  sense  of  the  essen- 
tial  presence  of  the  individual  from  whom  the  same  are 
derived.  When  a mind  of  strong  executive  poAvers  properly 
concentrates  and  directs  all  its  forces,  not  only  is  it  possible 
to  infuse  thoughts  and  ideas  into  the  mind,  but  distinct  im- 
pressions may  be  made,  (apparently)  on  the  organs  of  special 
sensation.  In  this  manner  susceptible  persons  are  sometimes 
informed  of  distant  occurrences,  especially  such  as  great 
public  calamities  and  the  loss  of  their  friends.’ 


j 1 A fact  that  occurred  during  the  war  with  Mexico,  will  illustrate  this 
class  of  impressions  on  the  sensories.  My  authority  for  the  statement  is 
Mr.  Bogardus,  a man  of  undoubted  veracity,  who  lives  near  Albany.  A 
lady,  with  whom  Mr.  B.  was  personally  acquainted,  had  a sou — a soldier, 
who  lost  his  life  in  the  expedition  against  Mexico.  One  morning  when  the 
soldier’s  mother  (who  lived  near  Mr.  B.  on  the  West  bank  of  the  Uudson,) 


APPARITIONS  OP  THE  LIVING. 


447 


I may  now  offer  the  illustrative  examples  of  the  extraor- 
dinary psychical  plicnomena  indicated  by  the  title  of  this 
Chapter.  Mrs.  Crowe’s  “ Niglit  Side  of  Nature,”  contains 
several  striking  facts  of  this  class.  Among  the  number  she 
relates  the  experience  of  Mr.  IT , an  artist,  and  a gentle- 

man of  scientific  attainments.  It  occurred  “ on  the  evening 

of  the  12th  of  March,  1792.”  H had  spent  the  evening 

in  reading  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  and  was  about  to 
retire  for  the  night.  His  mind  was  engrossed  by  a mathe- 
matical problem,  when  his  uncle,  Mr.  R....,  suddenly  ap- 
peared to  him  in  a straight-jacket.  Some  time  after  he 
learned  that  at  the  precise  time  when  his  reflections  were 
disturbed  by  the  apparition,  his  uncle  had  attempted  suicide, 
and  that  a straight-jacket  had  actually  been  put  on  him. 

/Professor  Becker,  of  Rostock,  while  engaged  in  a theolo- 
gical controversy  with  some  friends,  had  occasion  to  go  to 
his  library  to  obtain  a book,  with  a view  of  settling  some 
controverted  point.  On  entering  the  library,  he  saw  him- 
self seated  at  the  table,  in  the  chair  he  was  accustomed  to 
occupy.  The  mysterious  figure  appeared  to  be  reading  in  a 
book,  and,  on  approaching,  he  perceived  that  it  was  point- 
ing with  one  finger  of  the  right  hand  to  these  words : “ Make 


came  to  the  breakfast  table,  it  was  observed  by  the  family  that  she  was 
weeping.  On  being  interrogated  respecting  the  cause  of  her  depression,  she 
said,  ‘•John  is  dead  She  was  told  that  she  had  been  dreaming,  and  had 
better  dismiss  the  thought.  But  it  was  quite  impossible  to  shake  her  convic- 
tion. She  declared  that  John  had  just  been  shot ; described  the  scene,  the 
actors,  and  the  attendant  circumstances,  and  affirmed  that  she  distinctly  heard 
the  report  of  the  gun,  saw  her  son  fall,  and  that  he  would  return  to  them  no 
more.  On  the  same  morniog,  at  sunrise,  in  Mexico — far  from  the  presence 
of  his  mother — John  lost  his  life  in  the  manner  described,  and  indeed  the 
whole  statement  of  his  mother  was  literally  verified  by  the  actual  facts.  J 


448 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ready  tliy  house,  for  thou  must  die It  is  further  stated, 
that  having  taken  leave  of  his  friends,  he  expired  at  six 
o’clock  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day./ 

I believe  it  is  Stilling  who  relates  a similar  fact,  on  the 
authority  of  a gentleman  who  was,  at  that  time.  Sheriff  of 

Frankfort.  Mr.  T , had  just  sent  his  secretary  away  on 

some  business,  but  the  latter  soon  after  returned  to  the  apart- 
ment and  seized  a volume  of  Linnseus.  His  master,  surprised 
at  his  unexpected  reappearance,  demanded  the  cause  of  his 
speedy  return,  whereupon  the  book  fell  to  the  floor  and  the 
figure  vanished.  When  the  secretary  returned  at  evening, 
he  stated  that  he  had  been  engaged  in  a warm  discussion  of 
some  botanical  question,  with  a friend  whom  he  met  on  the 
way,  and  that  he  had  much  desired  to  refer  to  his  Linumus. 

Jung  Stilling  also  gives  an  interesting  account  of  a man 
of  singular  and  retired  habits,  who,  about  the  year  1740, 
lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia.  This  man  was  reputed 
to  possess  a knowledge  of  the  most  mysterious  things,  and  to 
be  capable  of  discovering  the  profoundest  secrets.  Among 
the  more  remarkable  illustrations  of  his  powers,  the  follow- 
ing appears  to  have  been  fully  credited  by  Stilling  : 

j The  wife  of  a ship-captain,  whose  husband  was  on  a visit  to  Europe  and 
Africa,  and  from  whom  she  had  been  long  without  tidings,  overwhelmed 
with  anxiety  for  his  safety,  was  induced  to  address  herself  to  this  person. 
Having  listened  to  her  story,  he  begged  her  to  excuse  him  for  a while,  when 
he  would  bring  her  the  intelligence  she  required.  He  then  passed  into  an 
inner  room,  and  she  sat  herself  down  to  wait ; but  his  absence  continuing 
longer  than  she  expected,  she  became  impatient,  thinking  he  had  forgotten 
her ; and  so,  softly  approaching  the  door,  she  peeped  through  some  aper- 
ture, and  beheld  him  lying  on  a sofa,  motionless  as  if  dead.  She  waited 
his  return,  when  he  told  her  that  her  husband  had  not  been  able  to  write  to 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


440 


lier,  for  such  and  such  reasons ; but  that  he  was  then  in  a coffee-house  in 
London,  and  would  very  shortly  be  home  again.  Accordingly  he  arrived, 
and  as  the  lady  learned  from  him,  that  the  causes  of  his  unusual  silence  had 
been  precisely  those  alleged  by  the  man,  she  felt  extremely  desirous  of 
ascertaining  the  truth  of  the  rest  of  the  information ; and  in  this  she  was 
gratiQed  ; for  he  no  sooner  set  his  eyes  on  the  magician  than  he  said  that  he 
had  seen  him  before,  on  a certain  day,  in  a coffee-house  in  London ; and 
that  he  had  told  him  that  his  wife  was  extremely  uneasy  about  him ; and 
that  he,  the  captain,  had  thereupon  mentioned  how  he  had  been  prevented 
from  writing,  adding  that  he  was  on  the  eve  of  embarking  for  America.  He 
had  then  lost  sight  of  the  stranger  among  the  throng,  and  knew  nothing 
more  about  him.^ 

A remarkable  fact  of  this  general  class  was  several  years 
since  communicated  to  the  author  in  a letter  from  Mr.  E.  Y. 
Wilson.  My  correspondent  resided  at  the  time  in  Toronto. 
On  the  nineteenth  day  of  May,  1854,  while  he  was  employed 
in  writing  at  his  desk,  Mr.  Wilson  fell  asleep,  and  dreamed 
that  he  was  in  the  city  of  Hamilton,  some  forty  miles  west 
of  Toronto.  After  attending  to  some  business,  he  proceeded 

in  his  dream  to  make  a friendly  call  on  Mrs.  D s.  On 

arriving  at  the  house  he  rang  the  bell,  and  a servant  came 
to  the  door,  who  informed  him  that  her  mistress  had  gone 
out  and  would  not  return  for  an  hour.  The  dreamer  there- 
upon left  his  name  and  compliments  for  Mrs.  D.,  and  started 
for  home.  At  length,  awaking  from  his  slumber,  Mr.  Wilson 
found  himself  precisely  where  he  had  lost  himself,  half  an 
hour  before,  queitly  seated  at  his  writing  desk  in  Toronto. 

Some  days  after  the  occurrence  of  this  incident,  a lady  in 

the  family  of  Mr.  Wilson  received  a letter  from  Mrs.  D , 

of  Hamilton,  in  which  she  incidentally  mentioned  that  Mr. 
W.  had  called  at  her  house,  a few  days  before,  while  she  was 
out.  She  complained  that  he  did  not  await  her  return,  and 


450 


MAN  AND  HIS  DF.LATTONS. 


said  that,  on  learning  that  he  had  been  there,  she  had  visited 
all  the  hotels  in  Hamilton  in  the  hope  of  finding  him. 

On  perusing  this  letter  Mr.  Wilson  suggested  that  his  fair 
friend  must  be  crazy,  since  he  had  not  been  in  Hamilton  for 
a month  ; and  that  on  the  particular  day  and  hour  mentioned, 
he  was  at  his  place  of  business  and  in  a deep  sleep.  His 
curiosity  was,  however,  excited,  and  inviting  several  friends 
to  join  him,  the  party  went  to  Hamilton  and  called  at  the 
house  of  Mrs.  D.  The  lady  herself  met  tliem  at  the  door, 
and  they  were  invited  into  the  parlor.  While  the  party 
remained,  Mrs.  D.,  on  some  plausible  pretext,  directed  her 
servants  to  go  into  the  room,  and  suggested  that  they  should 
notice  the  gentlemen  present  and  tell  her  if  there  were  any 
familiar  faces  among  them.  Two  of  the  servants  instantly 
identified  Mr.  Wilson  as  the  person  who  called  ten  days  before, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  their  mistress,  left  his  name,  which  they . 
remembered  and  repeated.  ‘ 

An  extraordinary  instance  of  the  apparition  of  a living 
man,  at  a distance  from  his  corporeal  form,  occurred  in  In- 
diana, in  tlie  year  1855.  A full  and  authentic  account  of 
the  facts  and  circumstances  of  this  peculiar  case  appeared  at 
the  time,  in  the  Indianapolis  Sentinel,  with  the  Editor’s  un- 
qualified indorsement,  alike  of  the  veracity  of  tlic  witnesses 

1 it  is  alleged  respecting  a popular  Actor,  that  he  has  repeatedly  appeared, 
to  bis  friends  in  the  city  of  New  York,  when  it  was  well  known  that  he  was 
either  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  or  Washington.  It  is  said  that  on  one 
occasion  he  spent  an  evening  at.  a certain  place  in  New  York  when  ho  was 
advertised  to  personate  a character  at  the  Theater  in  Washington.  Several 
gentlemen  assert  that  they  were  in  his  company  in  New  York  on  that  night; 
and  yet,  strange  to  s.iy,  the  Washington  papers  of  the  following  morning 
announced  that  he  had  aciually  made  his  appearance  in  that  city,  and  his 
performance  was  also  rarde  the  subject  of  dramatic  criticism. 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


451 


and  tlic  reality  of  the  facts.  The  details  would  occupy  too 
much  space  in  this  connection  where  only  a brief  statement 
is  required. 

It  was  in  the  early  part  of  fifty -five,  and  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  of  Indiana,  that  two  members  of  that 
body — representing  a portion  of  the  South-western  part  of 
the  State,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the 
Capitol — called  on  Dr.  Anthon,  Superintendent  of  the  In- 
sane Hospital  at  Indianapolis,  and  asked  for  the  reasons 
that  prompted  him  to  discharge  one  Alexander  F.,  a patient 
from  Perry  Countyc  “ They  stated  that  they  had  received 
letters  from  different  persons,  mentioning  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Alexander  F.  was  wandering  at  large  in  neighborhoods  near 
his  old  home  ; that  the  citizens  were  afraid  of  him,  and  were 
anxious  that  he  should  be  returned  to  the  institution  without 
delay.”  Dr.  Anthon  informed  the  parties  that  Alexander 
was  still  in  the  Asylum,  that  he  had  not  been  home,  and  that 
his  early  discharge  need  not  be  anticipated. 

On  the  following  day  Dr.  Anthon  received  a letter  from 
the  guardian  of  the  insane  man,  making  similar  inquiries, 
and  desiring  to  know  when,  and  in  what  condition  of  mind, 
he  left  the  Hospital.  In  his  reply,T)r.  A.  assured  his  corres- 
pondent that  “ the  veritable  Alexander”  was  still  in  his  keep- 
ing, and  that  “ the  people  need  not  be  alarmed  at  his  elon- 
gated shadow.”  This  called  forth  another  letter  containing 
a circumstantial  account  of  Alexander’s  mysterious  visit  to 
his  old  home,  on  or  about  the  27th  of  February,  1855.  The 
writer  named  the  places  where  he  was  seen,  the  persons  with 
whom  he  conversed,  and  the  strange  things  that  were  said 
and  done  by  the  lunatic.  The  reappearance  of  Alexander 


452 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


naturally  occasioned  great  surprise  among  his  friends  and 
former  neighbors,  and  his  movements  were  closely  observed 
by  several  persons  who  had  been  familiar  with  him  for  years. 
The  witnesses  concurred  in  saying  that  he  did  not  look  well ; 
that  he  was  pale,  and  that  he  was  indisposed  to  converse  ; 
but  not  one  entertained  the  slightest  doubt  of  his  identity. 

Alexander  was  questioned  respecting  the  time  when  he 
was  in  Perry  County  last,  and  he  replied  that  it  was  three 
weeks  since  he  made  a flying  visit  home.  On  being  inform- 
ed that  he  had  not  been  absent  from  the  Hospital  since  his 
admission  on  the  19th  of  June,  1854,  he  indignantly  disputed 
the  statement,  saying  : “ I tell  you  that  I did  go.  My  spirit 
flew  down  there  quick,  and  left  this  pair  of  clotlies,  and  the 
rest  of  me  that  you  see  here  in  the  ward  to  take  care  of  Anti- 
christ, and  keep  the  Devil  out  of  the  bath-room.’^  Alexan- 
der mentioned  the  fact  that  he  visited  a distillery,  where  he 
obtained  some  whiskey,  named  the  persons  he  met  there,  and 
gave  circumstantial  accounts  of  his  sayings  and  doings,  all 
of  which — at  least  in  the  essential  particulars  of  the  state- 
ment— were  in  correspondence  with  the  facts,  as  detailed  by 
his  guardian  in  the  letter  to  Dr.  Anthon.  Alexander  thus 
describes  his  return  from  Perry  County  to  Indianapolis  : 

I did  not  see  anybody  on  the  road — I was  so  high  up  ; came  with  the 
pigeons;  they  were  a-cheering  me — ha!  ha!  ha! — and  didn’t  make  no  time 
at  ail ; I got  home  first ; I’m  going  back  to-morrow.  The  whisky  ....  made 
my  head  swim — run  against  the  lightning,  which  singed  rny  whiskers — 
colored  ’em  red.  The  truth  is,  Doc,  they  are  all  crazy.” 

The  author  of  the  communication  in  the  Sentinel  observes 
in  conclusion,  that  “We  have  the  positive  assurance  of  ton 
or  more  reliable  men,  who  had  known  him  for  years,  that 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


453 


Alexander  was  in  Perry  County  on  or  about  the  27th  of 
February,  and  tlie  slightly  unconnected,  but  corroborating 
narrative  of  Alexander ' himself.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
officers  of  the  Hospital,  and  at  least  twenty  others  connected 
with  the  institution,  will  solemnly  affirm  that  they  have  seen 
and  conversed  with  Alexander  two  or  three  times  every  day 
for  nine  months./ 

^ am  not  without  some  personal  experiences  of  this  nature, 
the  first  of  which  occurred  in  1850.  I had  been  spending 
several  days  in  the  valley  of  the  Naugatuck,  and  at  the  time 
was  in  Ansonia,  at  the  residence  of  W.  G.  Creamer,  some 
fifteen  miles  from  Bridgeport,  Connecticut.  This  strange 
phenomenon  of  the  apparition  of  a living  man  occurred  early 
in  the  morning.  The  sun  had  risen,  and  I was  about  leav- 
ing my  sleeping  apartment,  when  (after  having  my  attention 
directed  for  a moment  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  room)  I 
suddenly  turned  toward  the  door,  which  was  closed,  and — 
to  my  great  surprise — saw  the  late  Joseph  T.  Bailey,  of 
Philadelphia.  He  was  standing  about  three  feet  from  the 
door,  and  looking  earnestly  in  my  face,  he  addressed  me, 
when  a brief  colloquy  ensued. 

In  his  first  audible  words  Mr.  Bailey  declared  that  he 
would  call  on  me  the  next  day  ; whereupon  I inquired  what 
was  to  be  done  on  the  occasion  of  his  next  visit.  With  an  ex- 
pression of  peculiar  interest,  and  speaking  with  increased 
emphasis,  Mr.  Bailey  said,  “ Remember  ! I shall  coll  on  you 
to-mori'owl’  I asked  him  to  explain  the  object  of  his  unex- 
pected appearance,  and  to  tell  me  what  was  to  occur  on  the 
succeeding  day.  He  gave  me  no  answer ; but  the  figure 
moved  slowly  as  if  it  were  about  to  disappear  by  the  door. 


454 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


“ Stay,  friend  I exclaimed,  “ Will  you  not  explain  the  pur- 
pose of  this  mysterious  visitation  ?”  My  friend  made  no 
direct  reply,  but  commenced  speaking  in  a low  tone.  I lis- 
tened, and  discovered  that  he  was  talking  of  a mutual  friend, 
Mr.  F . Much  that  he  said  was  inaudible,  but  I dis- 

tinctly heard  his  last  words,  which  were  these  : “ A dark 
cloud  has  settled  down  over  the  earthly  destiny  of  that  man.” 

The  figure  vanished  as  the  last  words  were  uttered,  and  I 
was  left  to  muse  alone  on  this  strange  experience.  By  a 
most  singular  train  of  circumstances,  the  author  met  Mr. 
Bailey  the  next  day,  in  a car  on  the  New  York^and  New 
Haven  Railroad.  He  had  been  in  Boston  the  preceding  day 
or  two,  and  was  there  at  the  time  his  apparition  entered  my 
chamber  in  Ansonia.  In  the  course  of  the  interview  that 
succeeded  our  actual  meeting,  Mr.  Bailey  spoke  with  mucli 
feeling  concerning  the  misfortunes  of  our  mutual  friend,  Mr. 

F ; and,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  when  about  to  take 

leave  of  the  writer,  he  uttered  the  precise  words  of  the  appa- 
rition : — “ A darh  clouds  has  settled  doivn  over  the  earthly 
destiny  of  that  manf 

My  second  experience  occurred  some  years  since,  after 
spending  an  evening  at  the  residence  and  in  the  company 

of  Mr.  M and  his  wife,  of  Lafayette  Place,  New  York. 

The  latter  manifested  a high  degree  of  mental  susceptibility, 
and  in  the  course  of  our  interview  exhibited  some  interest- 
ing psychological  phenomena.  At  a late  hour  I left  Lafay- 
ette Place  and  went  to  my  lodgings,  in  a remote  part  of  the 
city.  Finding  that  the  elder  members  of  the  family  luid  not 
retired,  but  were  awaiting  my  return,  I gave  them  a descri})- 
tion  of  Madam  M.,  and  the  details  of  our  interview.  The 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


455 


hour  was  midnight.  The  personal  appearance  of  the  lady, 
her  conversation,  manners,  and  all  the  incidents  of  the  even- 
ing, were  still  vividly  impressed  on  the  mind  ; and  they  were 
communicated  without  a thought  that  the  distant  subject  of 
the  recital  could  thus  be  consciously  influenced. 

On  the  following  morning,  when  Madame  M.  presented 
herself  at  the  breakfast  table  she  referred  to  the  writer,  and 
affirmed  that  some  time  after  Mr.  B.  left,  on  the  previous 
night,  he  had  returned,  and  that  at  twelve  o’clock  he  mys- 
teriously appeared  in  her  private  apartment,  entering  and 
retiring  without  opening  the  door.  As  the  evidence  in  this 
case  was  quite  sufficient  to  establish  an  alibi,  the  gravity  of 
the  personal  charge  was  materially  modified,  and  the  accused 
party  gracefully  excused  for  his  unconscious  intrusion. 

In  the  early  part  of  1858,  the  writer  was  at  a social  party 
one  evening,  given  at  the  house  of  Madam , in  Louis- 

ville, Kentucky,  when  the  particular  class  of  phenomena  em- 
braced in  this  Chapter  became  the  subject  of  conversation. 
Several  persons  having  expressed  their  interest  in  psycholo- 
gical investigations,  Madam  — ■ — , at  length  requested— in 
behalf  of  herself  and  a friend — that  a trial  might  be  niade, 
as  she  had  no  fear  of  apparitions  either  of  the  living  or  the 
dead.  Accordingly,  the  hour  between  eleven  and  twelve 
o’clock  on  tiie  succeeding  Tuesday  evening,  was  set  apart 
for  the  experiment.  As  had  been  anticipated,  the  writer 
wa,s  traveling  on  Tuesday  night,  and  at  a distance  of  some 
five  hundred  miles  from  Louisville.  Madam  and  her  friend 
were  prompt  in  meeting  the  engagement.  At  the  appointed 
hour  they  were  seated  in  the  parlor,  with  closed  doors, 
awaiting  the  result  of  the  trial  with  a lively  curiosity. 


456 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


The  liour  had  nearly  expired,  and  the  conditions  had  all 
been  faithfully  observed  ; but  still  there  was  no  visible  pre- 
sence. Less  than  five  minutes  of  the  hour  yet  remained, 

when  Madam , concluding  that  success  was  impossible, 

and  half  reproaching  herself  for  the  foolish  credulity  that 
prompted  the  trial — left  the  room  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing the  doors  in  the  back  part  of  the  house.  At  the  same 
time  her  companion  approached  the  door  leading  into  the 
front  hall  with  the  intention  of  retiring  for  the  night.  As 
she  opened  the  parlor  door  the  image  of  the  author’s  person- 
ality stood  before  her  (so  the  lady  affirms)  in  all  its  natural 
proportions,  and  with  every  aspect  of  actual  life.  A sud- 
den exclamation  of  surprise  brought  her  friend  into  the 
room,  who  also  affirms  that  she  saw  and  recognized  tlie  figure 
as  it  moved,  with  a gliding  locomotion,  from  its  position  by 
the  door  and  disappeared. 

The  reader  will  permit  the  introduction  of  a single  addi- 
tional example  of  this  class  from  the  records  of  my  private 
experience.  One  stormy  night,  in  the  winter  of  1858-9,  I 
was  seated  alone  in  my  room,  at  a hotel  in  Coldwater, 
Michigan.  But  I was  tliere  only  in  'propria  persona^  being 
absent  in  spirit.  On  the  table  before  mo  was  the  autograph 
of  a friend,  whose  name  and  image  are  associated  with 
pleasant  memories.  The  student  of  human  nature  is  privi- 
leged to  subject  the  characters  of  others  to  a just  analysis, 
so  long  as  his  work  is  done  in  silence.  I felt  at  liberty  on 
that  occasion  ; and  it  never  occurred  to  mo  that  my  voiceless 
meditation- might  disturb  the  mental  and  vital  equilibrium 
of  the  person  who  occupied  my  thoughts.  At  the  very  hour 
my  mind  was  thus  employed  my  friend — who  was  i)resumed' 


APPARITIONS  OP  THE  LIVING. 


457 


to  be  at  home — was  absent  in  a neighboring  town,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a gay  company.  While  standing  at  ease  in  a 
quadrille,  engaged  in  a spirited  conversation,  a sudden  at- 
tack of  syncope  interrupted  the  dance,  and  my  friend  was 
borne  insensible  from  the  room.  The  cause  of  this  sudden 
loss  of  the  vital  balance  was  soon  explained.  My  friend,  on 
recovering  the  use  of  the  faculties,  declared  that  the  present 
writer  mysteriously  appeared — a silent  spectator  in  the  midst 
of  the  assembly  . It  was  absolutely  known  that  I was  at  the 
time,  in  a distant  city,  and  hence  the  apparition  at  once  sug- 
gested the  possible  termination  of  the  life  on  earth.  / 

There  are  few  more  difficult  questions  in  this  department 
of  mental  science  than  the  one  that  relates  to  the  proper  so- 
lution of  these  mysteries.  Speculative  minds  may  be  able 
to  invent  various  hypotheses,  but  I shall  only  notice  such  as 
are  either  sustained  by  distinguished  authority  or  are  per- 
ceived to  be  consistent  with  the  laws  and  relations  of  the 
hum.an  mind.  Sir  David  Brewster  presumed  that  all  such 
appearances  were  projected  from  the  brain  on  the  retina, 
and  hence  that  they  were  wholly  subjective.  If  it  were  so, 
the  images  would  inevitably  bear  some  resemblance  to  the 
thoughts  occupying  the  mind,  and  thus  exercising  the  brain 
at  the  precise  time  of  their  occurrence.  But  unfortunately 
for  Sir  David  Brewster,  and  all  the  illusion  philosophers,  the 
facts  are  at  war  with  their  material  speculations.  These 
apparitions  take  shapes  that  are  obviously  independent  of 
the  ideas  entertained  by  those  who  are  forced  to  recognize 
their  presence.  The  phantoms  come  uncalled  ; they  demean 
themselves  as  they  will,  and  without  the  slightest  regard  to 
our  sense  of  propriety.  Moreover,  they  depart  at  pleasure, 


458 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  will  not  stay  a moment  to  oblige  us.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  sufficient  reason  to  conclude  that  they  are  the  abnor- 
mal creations  of  the  minds  that  perceive  them,  and  the 
rational  metaphysician  will  be  little  disposed  to  accept  the 
subjective  theory. 

The  illustrations  employed  in  this  Chapter  are  manifestly 
not  mere  illusions,  but  actual  facts.  Indeed,  the  supposition 
that  they  are  all  phantoms,  born  of  the  excited  mind  and  dis- 
ordered brain,  is  so  utterly  preposterous  that  it  is  difficult  to 
account  for  its  acceptance  by  any  man  of  ordinary  intelli- 
gence and  discrimination.  In  a normal  condition  different 
persons  may  perceive  the  same  things,  and  substantially 
agree  in  their  testimony  respecting  the  objects  and  events 
which  they  are  led  to  observe  : and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  this  concurrence  characterizes  the  testimony  of  the  wit- 
nesses who  saw  Alexander  F at  the  distance  of  one 

hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  his  physical  body.  The  ser- 
vants of  Mrs.  D.,  of  Hamilton,  both  recognized  Mr.  Wilson  ; 
and  the  two  ladies  in  Louisville  corroborated  the  testimony 
of  each  other.  On  the  contrary,  men  of  diseased  brains,  and 
those  whose  faculties  are  otherwise  deranged,  exhibit  no 
similar  correspondence.  They  are  never  haunted  by  the 
same  phantoms.  Every  disordered  intellect  has  its  peculiar 
crotchet,  while  the  illusions  of  the  senses  and  the  hallucina- 
tions of  the  piind  are  strangely  incongruous  and  infinitely 
diversified. 

If  we  submit  Sir  David  Brewster’s  hypothesis  to  trial  by 
the  facts  already  cited  in  this  connection,  the  tliougldfiil 
reader  will  perceive  that  it  is  little  better  than  a mere  hal- 
lucination. The  hypothesis  under  review  jiresupposes  the 


APPARITIONS  OP  THE  LIVING. 


459 


existence  of  an  idea  or  mental  conception,  previously  form- 
ed ; and  that  intense  cerebral  action  may  produce  a shadow, 
image,  or  picture  of  the  same,  which  is  perceived  by  the 
sense  of  vision,  and  appears  to  be  objective.  But  the  form 
of  one’s  uncle  in  a straiglit-jacket  surely  sustains  no  possible 
relation  to  a matliematical  problem.  When  Becker,  in  the 
heat  of  a theological  discussion,  went  to  his  library  for  a 
book,  he  evidently  did  not  think  of  meeting  himself ; much 
less  did  he  expect  to  be  admonished  of  his  approaching  dis- 
solution. When  the  Sheriff  of  Frankfort  was  sitting  quietly 
in  his  room,  with  the  impression  on  his  mind  that  his  secre- 
tary would  be  absent  till  evening,  the  action  of  his  brain 
certainly  could  not  have  produced  the  sensorial  impression 
of  the  secretary’s  presence.  The  sea-captain,  in  the  coffee- 
house in  London,  had  no  reason  to  expect  that  he  would  see 
an  unknown  man  who  was  at  that  time  in  the  United  States. 
Admitting  this  hypothesis,  the  friends  of  the  actor  referred  to 
could  never  see  him  in  New  York  so  long  as  they  felt  assur- 
ed that  he  was  in  Washington;  nor  could  Mrs.  D ^s’ 

servants,  in  Hamilton,  who  probably  never  heard  of  Mr. 
Wilson,  evolve  his  image  from  their  brains,  rendering  his 
form,  features,  expression  and  voice  with  such  surprising 
fidelity  that  the  real  man  was  instantly  recognized,  when — 
ten  days  thereafter — they  were  brought  into  his  presence. 
The  writer  had  no  thought  of  Mr.  Bailey  until  it  was  sug- 
gested by  his  apparition.  Madam  M could  not  enter- 

tain the  thought  that  a gentleman — whose  personal  know- 
ledge of  herself  was  derived  from  a single  interview — would 
invade  the  sanctity  of  her  boudoir  at  midnight.  The  two 
friends  in  Louisville  saw  nothing  while  they  were  waiting 

29 


460 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  watching — when  alone  the  anxious  expectation  could, 
by  a possibility,  have  created  an  optical  illusion,  correspond- 
ing to  the  conception  by  the  mind — but  it  was  when  they 
had  ceased  to  entertain  any  such  expectation — had  even  re- 
linquished their  feeble  faith  in  the  possibility  of  the  occur- 
rence— that  the  shadow  of  the  absent  friend  stood  at  the 
door  like  a living  presence.  Moreover,  the  person  in  the 
ball-room,  with  the  faculties  otherwise  employed — the  senses 
being  entranced  by  the  magnetism 'of  music,  tlie  forms  of 
beauty,  and  “the  poetry  of  motion’^ — could  not  be  expected 
to  see  a man  who — at  that  particular  time — was  known  to 
be  elsewhere  and  far  away. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  foregoing  facts  involve  a 
complete  refutation  of  Sir  David  Brewster’s  theory.  And 
this  is  about  all  that  the  accepted  philosophies  have  done 
toward  a solution  of  these  mysteries.  Abercrombie,  in  his 
interesting  treatise  on  the  intellectual  faculties,  entertains  a 
similar  notion  ; and  all  material  philosophers,  who  have 
written  on  the  phenomena  of  mind,  have  adopted — with 
slight  modifications — the  theory  of  spectral  illusions.  Such 
men  are  eminently  Sadducean  in  their  bold  and  uiiqualilied 
denial  of  the  existence  and  powers  of  the  mind  when  sepa- 
rated from  the  body. 

In  many  cases  it  is  obvious  that  the  persons  who  thus 
mysteriously  appear  at  a distance  from  their  bodies,  and 
those  who  recognize  their  presence,  are  mentally  en  ra'pport. 
In  the  present  classification  are  several  illustrative  facts  that 
may  be  appropriately  referred  to  this  magnetic  or  psycholo- 
gical conjunction  ; and  the  laws  that  regulate  this  blending 
of  subtile  forces  and  association  of  faculties  and  ideas,  also 


APPARITIONS  OP  THE  LIVING. 


461 


suggest  the  proper  explanation  of  many  similar  phenomena. 
When  this  relation  is  fairly  established,  and  two  minds  are 
intimately  conjoined  by  the  force  of  a natural  attraction,  the 
functions  of  the  one  may  be  determined  by  the  more  positive 
faculties  of  the  other  ; and  even  the  nerves  of  special  sensa- 
tion— in  the  impressible  party — may  thus  he  acted  upon  from 
within^  or  through  the  mind,  in  such  a manner  as  to  reflect 
the  same  images  at  the  sensorium  that  external  scenes  and 
objects  naturally  produce  when  surveyed  through  the  organic 
instruments  of  perception. 

But  the  psychological  theory,  as  thus  explained,  is  insuffi- 
cient to  cover  all  the  facts.  The  person  who  really  appears 
to  be  essentially  present  in  one  place  while  he  is  known  to 
be  (corporeally)  in  another  and  a distant  place,  does  not 
always  have  his  mind  so  fixed  on  those  who  behold  his  appa- 
rition, as  to  influence  either  their  mental  or  physical  func- 
tions in  any  possible  degree  ; nor  does  it  appear  that  those 
who  perceive  anti  recognize  the  images  of  absent  persons  are 
especially  distipguished  for  their  psychological  susceptibility. 
We  have  no  Widence  that  the  man  who  desired  to  refer  to 
his  Linnoeus  to  settle  a controverted  point,  was  thinking  of 
the  person  in  the  library  who  saw  his  apparition  grasp  the 

volume ; nor  is  it  at  all  likely  that  Mrs.  D s’  domestics 

were  characterized  by  the  most  delicate  psychological  sus- 
ceptibilities. It  should  also  be  observed  that,  whenever  im- 
pressions are  made  and  received  in  the  manner  already 
described,  the  subject  usually  perceives  only  such  images 
as  are  before  the  dominant  mind,  the  form  of  the  man  being 
seldom  visible.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  examples  under  dis- 
cussion, the  images  of  the  persons  were  rendered  visible 


462 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS, 


rather  than  the  shadows  of  ideas  and  the  forms  of  objects 
which  occupied  their  minds  at  the  time.  From  these  con- 
siderations we  may  justly  conclude  that  the  psychological 
theory — as  commonly  defined  and  apprehended — will  not 
enable  us  to  account  for  all  the  phenomena  in  this  connec- 
tion, in  a satisfactory  manner,  and  hence  some  further  expla- 
nation is  required. 

It  is  a significant  fact  that  in  many  cases  the  individuals 
who  appear  to  be  invested  with  this  double  personality  are 
not,  at  the  time,  completely  conscious  of  their  relations  to 
the  external  world.  The  phenomena  are  quite  likely  to  occur 
when  the  mind  is,  either  partially  or  entirely,  withdrawn  from 
the  physical  organs  of  sensation  and  the  outward  field  of  ob 
servation.  There  may  be  numerous  exceptions,  and  among 
them  some  of  the  examples  I have  selected  ; but  many  per- 
sons, whose  magneto-spiritual  effigies  appear  at  a distance 
from  all  corporeal  restraints,  will  be  found  to  have  been  at 
the  time  in  some  other  than  a normal,  wcfking  state.  In 
profound  mental  abstraction,  or  introversion  of  the  faculties 
— when  the  soul  looks  within  ; when  present  objects  disap- 
pear and  temporal  interests  are  forgotten  ; when  the  mind  is 
centered  on  things  remote — on  absent  friends,  the  events  of 
the  past  and  the  realities  of  tlie  future  ; “ in  visions  of  the 
night  when  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men  f in  the  palsy  of  cata- 
lepsis  ; in  magnetic  coma  and  other  trances  ] in  periods  of 
protracted  sickness,  wliich  jar  and  weaken  the  souks  material 
connections  ; when  disaster  and  death  are  impending  and 
the  shadows  of  the  immortal  world  fall  on  tlie  soul — in  all 
these  imperfectly  defined  physical  and  psychical  conditions, 
it  would  seem  that  the  snirit,  in  some  potential  sense,  leaves 


APPARITIONS  OF  THE  LIVING. 


463 


the  body  while  it  wanders  in  distant  places,  or  is  possibly 
intromitted  to  other  worlds.' 

In  the  mental  and  corporeal  conditions,  included  in  the 
foregoing  specification,  the  spirit  withdraws  in  a greater  or 
less  degree  from  the  sphere  of  it's  earthly  relations.  In  pro- 
found trances  the  organs  of  sensation  and  motion  are  useless 
because  the  spirit  is  not  present  to  employ  them ; insanity 
may  result  from  the  imnds’  imperfect  possession  of  its  organic 
instrument ; and  sleep  finds  its  most  appropriate  and  impres- 
sive analogy  in  death.  So  long  as  these  conditions  continue, 
the  subject  appears  to  occupy  a kind  of  intermediate  state 
between  the  realms  of  mortal  and  immortal  existence ; and 
it  is  but  natural  that  Man — thus  partially  liberated  from 
earthly  restraints— should  perform  (imperfectly,  to  be  sure) 
some  of  the  functions  of  his  spiritual  and  eternal  life. 

'^The  popular  conception  of  the  soul  is  vague,  and  its  higher 
life  apparently  shadowy  and  unreal,  whilst  the  flesh  is  so 
tangible  that  tlfe  body  is  quite  likely  to  be  mistaken  for  the 
real  man.  Material  skepticism  and  chronic  ignorance  still 

1 Saint  Paul,  (speaking  of  himself,  according  to  the  Biblical  Expositors)  says 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  a man  who  was  “ caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,” 
where  he  “heard  unspeakable  words  and  whether  he  was  “in  the  body 
or  out  of  the  body,”  at  the  time,  he  could  not  determine.  (2  Cor.,  chapter 
XII.)  If  this  is  insufficient  to  establish  the  fact,  it  may  at  least  commend  our 
idea  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  those  who  are  accustomed  to  appeal 
to  Apostolic  authority.  Paul's  language  certainly  implies  that  the  soul  may 
be  temporarily  released  from  its  corporeal  relations,  in  a degree  that 
enables  a man  to  ascend  even  to  “ the  third  heaven”  and  yet  return  on  the 
same  day.  When  the  innermost  avenues  of  perception  are  opened  into  the 
more  interior  degrees  of  the  mind  and  the  Universe,  the  man  is  necessarily 
brought  into  correspondence  with  the  heavenly  state.  In  other  words,  he  is 
at  once,  either  transported  to  heaven,  or  that  world  descends  to  him,  so  that 
its  sublime  realities  are  present  to  his  consciousness. 


464 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


insist  on, limiting  all  human  intelligences  by  such  conditions 
and  laws  as  are  only  or  chiefly  applicable  to  the  elements 
and  forms  of  matter.  They  will  have  the  soul  conditioned 
in  time  and  space,  and  they  boldly  assert  the  necessary  and 
absolute  dependence  of  all  its  faculties  on  the  continued  ex- 
istence of  the  body  and  the  integrity  of  its  organic  relations.' 
On  the  contrary,  I recognize  the  divinity  and  God-given 
freedom  of  its  inmost  nature,  and  affirm  its  high  prerogative 
10  govern  the  world.  In  the  immortal  faculties  and  death- 
less affections  of  the  mind  I find  the  individuality  of  Man. 
It  is  vain  to  look  for  it  elsewhere.  “ The  outward  man 
perishes,  day  by  day  f but  “ the  inward  man  is  renewed,” 
and  the  identity  is  never  lost. 

Now  it  is  a self-evident  proposition,  that  a man  must  in- 
evitably he  precisely  where  the  faculties  are  which  constitute 
his  real  manhood.  Hence,  if  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  con- 
center on  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe,  and  he  is  thus  con- 
joined to  some  companion  of  his  soul,  and  to  scenes  and 
objects  that  live  and  bloom  in  his  affections,  he  must  of  ne- 
cessity he  there,  in  all  the  essential  elements  and  attributes 
of  his  intellectual,  social  and  moral  being.  Moreover,  by  a 
power  of  self-identification  with  all  kindred  natures  they  are 
made  to  realize  his  absolute  presence.  / 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 

Preliminary  Considerations — Hybernation — Life  and  Death  defined — M. 
Jobert  de  Lamballe’s  Experiments — The  Vital  Functions  restored  by 
Electricity — Institutions  for  the  resuscitation  of  drowned  Persons — A Sur- 
prising Story — An  Indian  Fakir  entombed  alive — He  is  restored  after  ten 
Months — Dr.  George  Watterson  on  Premature  Burials — Case  of  D.  C. 
Mitchell — Reanimation  of  Mrs.  Columbia  Lancaster — A Presbyterian 
Divine  leaves  the  body  and  returns— A Man  resuscitated  at  Memphis — 
Remarkable  Case  before  the  French  Academy— Irresistible  power  of  Love 
— Case  of  Rev.  William  Tennent — Examples  from  the  Scriptures — Resur- 
rection of  Lazarus— Reference  to  M.  Renan’s  Life  of  Jesus — Concluding 
Observations. 

The  philosophical  observer  may  not  always  comprehend 
the  relations  of  recognized  facts  to  natural  laws,  for  the 
obvious  reason  that  the  system  of  Nature  includes  many 
mysteries,  and  no  human  sagacity  is  likely  to  discover  all 
her  secret  springs  of  action.  Indeed,  we  may  never  hope  to 
solve  all  the  great  problems  that  meet  us  on  every  hand,  if, 
in  our  definition  of  Nature,  we  embrace  only  the  mere -out- 
ward and  tangible  forms  and  phases  of  being.  But  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  include  the  Soul ; the  internal  laws  which 
govern  the  formation  and  development  of  physical  forms  ; 
and  the  invisible  forces  that  control  all  sensible  phenomena^ 
it  is  plain  that  we  can  only  fail  to  furnish  rational  explana- 
tions, because  our  knowledge  of  Nature  and  our  capacity  to 
reason  are  too  limited. 

In  certain  electro-vital  conditions,  a partial  or  total  sus 


466 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


pension  of  the  phenomena  of  animation  is  liable  to  occur  in 
both  animals  and  men.  In  the  hybernation  of  some  of  tlie 
insect  tribes,  the  cold-blooded  reptilia,  and  certain  superior 
forms  of  animated  Nature,  we  find  numerous  examples  and 
abundant  opportunities  for  observation.  This  torpid,  sense- 
less, and  asphyxiated  state  is  usually  superinduced  by  cold, 
though  it  is  well  known  that  this  suspension  of  vital  and 
voluntary  activity  often  occurs  among  the  insects  and  rep- 
tiles of  tropical  climates.  In  this  state  the  organic  action 
and  the  vital  temperature  are  gradually  diminished  until  sen- 
sation and  voluntary  motion  cease  altogether.  At  length 
respiration  is  wliolly  suspended,  and  with  it  the  capillary 
circulation  and  all  the  processes  of  vital  chemistry,  on  which 
the  generation  of  animal  heat  is  made  to  depend.  The  waste 
of  the  body  being  thus  arrested,  the  necessity  for  food  no 
longer  exists  ; and  this  condition  may  continue  for  an  inde- 
finite period  without  involving  the  total  extinction  of  the 
vital  principle. 

The  cases  of  suspended  animation  among  men  have  been 
frequent  in  all  periods  and  countries.  When  the  electric 
forces — on  which  tlie  organic  action  constantly  depends — arc 
imperfectly  balanced,  the  functions  are  especially  liable  to  be 
suddenly  interrupted.  Strong  mental  excitements,  sudden 
shocks,  unusual  exhaustion  of  the  nervous  energies,  and  a 
variety  of  incidental  conditions  and  circumstances,  may 
operate  in  producing  this  state.  Persons  so  imperfectly 
organized  as  to  render  the  vital  equijioise  uncertain,  often 
experience  a temporary  loss  of  sensation  in  certain  portions 
of  the  system  ; or  a difficulty  in  waking  from  a sleep  that  is 
otherwise  natural.  Moreover,  they  are  quite  sure  to  suller 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


467 


from  an  unequal  distribution  of  the  animal  fluids,  from  syn- 
cope, catalepsis  and  paralysis. 

Tims  we  are  furnished  with  constant  illustrations  of  the 
fact,  that  not  only  the  functions  of  voluntary  motion  and  sen- 
sation may  be  temporarily  arrested,  but  even  respiration  and 
the  heart’s  action  may  be  wholly  suspended — for  hours  and 
days  together — without  the  sacrifice  of  life.  These  condi- 
tions are  not  unlike  the  state  of  suspended  animation  observed 
in  the  lower  departments  of  the  animal  world.  Moreover, 
it  is  found  that  the  use  of  violent  friction,  sudden  shocks,  and 
the  application  of  heat  and  electrical  currents,  are  among 
the  most  effectual  agents  and  methods  employed  in  restoring 
the  functions  of  both  animals  and  men. 

In  the  appropriate  illustrations  of  my  subject  Life  and 
Death  are  brought  into  intimate  relations,  and  a brief  ana- 
lysis of  those  opposite  states  will  prepare  the  mind  to  more 
clearly  comprehend  the  facts  which  follow  in  this  connec- 
tion. Life,  as  a phenomenon,  is  the  result  of  that  condi- 
tion, or  perhaps  I may  say  that  it  is  the  condition,  of  an 
organized  body,  in  which  all  its  essential  parts  coexist  in  a 
sound  state  and  a true  relation,  and  whnrein  the  appro- 
priate functions  of  the  several  organs  are  performed.  Now, 
as  all  organized  bodies  have  their  periods  of  formation, 
growth  and  decay,  it  follows  that  life,  as  it  exists  in  these 
outward  forms,  is  subject  to  the  same  general  law.  There 
is  a time  when  we  begin  to  live.  At  that  period  the  vital 
principle  is  but  feebly  manifested,  and  may  be  destroyed  by 
the  slightest  accident.  The  light  of  life  burns  dimly,  and 
may  be  extinguished  by  a breath.  But  as  the  body  is  un- 
folded, life  increases  in  intensity  and  power,  and  the  vital 


468 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


action  becomes  stronger  and  surer,  until  Humanity  lias  at- 
tained its  liighest  physical  perfection.  But  there  is,  also,  a 
iime  when  ice  begin  to  die  ; and  no  sooner  has  the  tide  of  life 
reached  its  highest  attainable  point  than  the  vital  flood  be- 
gins to  recede.  The  fluids  still  circulate  througli  the  great 
arteries  of  life  ; outward  objects  make  their  impressions  on 
the  delicate  nerves  of  sense,  while  along  the  mystical  avenues, 
and  through  the  secret  chambers  of  thought,  the  images  yet 
come  and  go.  By  degrees,  however,  they  grew  dim  and 
shadowy, 

“ And  look  like  heralds  of  Eternity.” 

The  vital  momentum  is  diminished,  and  the  fluids  move  in 
lessening  currents,  until  at  last  the  organic  action  is  sus- 
pended, and  all  is  silent  and  motionless ! The  flame  that 
was  kindled  at  the  consecration  of  the  earthly  temple,  when 
life  was  new,  almost  imperceptibly  expires  on  tlie  altar,  and 
the  presiding  divinity  gradually  withdraws  its  ])resence,  and 
at  last  leaves  tlie  shrine  deserted.  Thus  it  is  manifest  that 
as  we  live  by  degrees,  so  also  do  we  die.  If  we  are  con- 
scious of  increasing  vitality  and  power  during  the  period  of 
Life’s  flood,  we  are  no  less  sensible  of  a corresponding  de- 
cline when  life  begins  to  ebb. 

The  idea  that  death  is  a gradual  transformation  is  clearly 
illustrated  and  confirmed  by  the  facts  of  human  experience. 
When  the  change  occurs  naturally  it  may  occupy  one-half 
the  entire  period  of  the  present  organic  existence,  beginning 
with  the  maturity  of  the  body  and  terminating  with  its  final 
decomposition.  In  otlier  words,  tlie  formation  and  complete 
development  of  the  organic  structure  require  one-lialf  of  tlio 
period  of  our  corporeal  existence,  and  tlie  natural  process 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


469 


of  its  decay,  or  death,  occupies  the  remaining  part  of  what 
men  call  human  life.  Death  is  commonly  defined  to  be  a 
total  suspension  of  the  arterial  circulation,  and  a cessation 
of  all  the  animal  functions.  But  a person  may  be  said  to  be 
dying  some  time  before  vital  motion  is  suspended,  just  as 
truly  as  the  statement  can  be  predicated  of  what  is  occurring 
at  that  precise  moment.  Men  whose  judgments  are  governed 
by  external,  visible  signs,  may  fancy  that  death  occurs  at  the 
instant  which  marks  the  termination  of  outward  conscious- 
ness and  organic  activity.  But  those  who  make  this  mistake 
are  superficial  observers.  Whoever  looks  luithin — at  the 
invisible  forces  and  essential  laws  of  life — will  inevitably 
conclude  that  death  is  not  an  instantaneous  change,  but  a 
gradual  transformation  ; and  that,  when  it  occurs  agreeably 
to  the  Divine  natural  order,  it  must  necessarily  require  a 
period  of  many  years  for  its  accomplishment. 

The  transition  being  thus  gradual,  it  follows  that  vitality 
may  remain — the  spirit  may  preserve  its  connection  with  the 
body — for  hours,  and  possibly  for  several  days,  after  volun- 
tary motion,  respiration  and  sensation  have  ceased,  and  all 
outward  signs  of  life  are  extinct.  During  this  period — the 
intervening  time  between  the  termination  of  vital  motion  and 
decomposition — the  application  of  some  powerful  agent  may 
reproduce  the  organic  action,  and  thus  restore  life.  Numer- 
ous- instances  of  this  kind  might  be  cited  from  history  and 
the  medical  journals.  Many  persons,  reduced  by  disease  or 
subjected  to  some  mysterious  influence,  have  relapsed  into 
profound  trances,  resembling  the  post-mortem  state,  and  after 
many  days  of  suspended  animation  all  the  functions  of  life 
have  been  restored.  The  Divine  forces  in  Nature  have  not 


470 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


been  exhausted  by  excessive  use,  or  paralyzed  by  time,  and 
we  may  therefore  presume  that  the  grand  results  of  their 
operations  are  fundamentally  the  same  in  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries. From  what  we  know  of  the  powers  of  Electricity  and 
Magnetism,  and  the  relations  of  these  agents  to  the  vital 
functions,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  that  if  they  could  be 
understandingly  applied,  many  a palsied  form,  through  whicli 
the  parting  soul  can  make  no  sign,  might  be  reanimated  and 
clothed  with  new  beauty.  If  a breath  can  extinguish  the 
flame,  it  is  not  less  apparent  that  a breath  may  rekindle  the 
fires  on  Life’s  crumbling  altar,  and  light  up  the  courts  of  its 
earthly  temple.’ 

A knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the  functions  of  life  are  often 
restored  to  those  who  were  apparently  dead,  has  led  to  the 
adoption  of  various  natural  agents  and  scientific  methods  for 
the  accomplishment  of  this  object.  During  the  last  and  the 
present  centuries  several  civilized  nations  have  founded  socie- 
ties, having  for  their  chief  object  the  resuscitation  of  droioned 
persons.  The  people  of  Holland,  who  are  more  exposed  to 
accidents  by  water  than  the  inhabitants  of  most  other  coun- 
tries, (owing  to  the  greater  number  of  canals,  and  of  persons 
employed  on  their  inland  waters)  were  induced  to  organize 
the  first  society  of  this  kind,  which  was  instituted  at  Amster- 
dam, in  1767.  Through  the  agency  of  this  association,  not 

1 In  1853,  M.  Jobert  de  Lamballe  read  a paper  before  the  French  Aca- 
demy of  Sciences,  on  the  effects  of  Electricity  in  restoring  animation  in  cases 
where  life  was  apparently  extinct.  In  the  course  of  his  observations,  lie 
administered  chloroform  to  many  animals,  producing  apparent  death  ; and 
then— by  properly  graduated  shocks  from  his  galvanic  pile — lie  restored 
animation.  In  some  cases  the  time  that  elapsed  between  the  suspension  and 
restoration  of  the  functions,  was  so  great  that  there  seemed  to  be  little 
chance  of  success,  but  by  perseverance  the  desired  result  was  obtained. 


STATES  RESEMBLINCx  DEATH. 


471 


less  than  one  Imnclred  and  fifty  persons  were,  in  a very  brief 
period,  restored  to  life  ; in  other  words,  raised  fi’ora  the 
dead.  Many  of  these  manifested  no  sign  of  returning  ani- 
mation for  more  than  an  hour  after  tliey  were  taken  from 
the  water.  It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that,  in  all  these  cases, 
death  ivould  have  been  co^nplete  and  inevitable,  but  for  the 
natural  means  and  humane  measures  of  the  Society.  Thus 
the  dead  may  be  raised,  and  by  similar  modes  the  medical 
faculty  and  others  do  raise  the  dead  almost  daily.  In  1768, 
the  authorities  of  Milan  and  Venice,  formed  societies  of  this 
kind,  and  in  1771,  the  Magistracy  of  Hamburg  followed 
their  example.  Subsequently,  the  Royal  Humane  Society 
of  London  was  instituted,  and  similar  ones  at  Paris  and 
Glasgow,  and  several  other  places  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

From  among  the  cases  of  suspended  animation,  the  selec- 
tion of  a few  striking  examples  will  suffice  to  illustrate  my 
subject.  In  the  year  1838,  an  East  Indian  Faqueer,  or  Fakir, 
attracted  general  attention  in  his  own  country  by  demon- 
strating his  capacity  to  live  for  months  deprived  of  both  air 
and  nourishment.  The  evidence,  by  which  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances are  supported,  is  so  strong  that  it  is  difficult  to 
regard  this  as  a case  of  Indian  jugglery.  Hon.  W.  G.  Os- 
borne, Military  Secretary  to  the  Mission  sent  to  the  Court 
of  Runjeet  Sing,  was  present  and  an  eye-witness.  I extract 
the  following  from  Mr.  Osborne’s  account,  from  which  it 
appears  that  other  distinguished  persons  certify  to  the  mar- 
velous exploits  of  the  Fakir  in  successfuly  counterfeiting  the 
post-mortem  state. 

“ The  monotony  of  our  camp  life  was  broken  this  morning 
by  the  arrival  of  a very  celebrated  character  in  the  Punjaub. 


472 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


He  is  held  in  extraordinary  respect  by  the  Sikhs,  from  his 
alleged  capacity  of  being  able  to  bury  himself  alive  for  any 
period  of  time.  Captain  Wade  (now  Sir  Claudie  Wade), 
political  agent  at  Loodhianna,  told  me  that  he  was  present 
at  his  exhumation,  after  an  interment  of  some  months  ; 
General  Ventura  having  buried  him,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Maharajah  and  many  of  his  principal  Sirdars  ; and,  as  far  as 
I can  recollect,  these  were  the  particulars,  as  witnessed  by 
General  Y entura.  After  going  through  a regular  course  of 

preparation the  Faqueer  reported  himself  ready  for 

the  interment  in  a vault  which  had  been  prepared  for  the 
purpose  by  order  of  the  Maharajah. 

“ On  the  appearance  of  Runjeet  and  his  Court,he  (the  Fakir) 
proceeded  to  the  final  preparations  that  were  necessary,  in 
their  presence,  and  after  stopping  with  wax  his  ears  and 
every  other  orifice  through  which  it  was  possible  for  air  to 
enter  his  body,  except  his  mouth,  he  was  stripped  and  placed 
in  a linen  bag.  The  last  preparation  consisted  in  turning 
his  tongue  back,  and  thus  closing  the  gullet,  whereupon  he 
immediately  died  away  into  a sort  of  lethargy.  The  bag 
was  then  closed  and  sealed  with  the  RunjeeFs  own  seal,  and 
afterwards  placed  in  a small  deal  box,  which  was  also  locked 
and  sealed.  The  box  was  then  placed  in  a vault,  the  earth, 
thrown  in  and  trodden  down,  a crop  of  barley  sown  over 
the  spot,  and  sentries  placed  round  it.  The  Maharajah  was 
however,  very  skeptical  on  the  subject,  and  twice,  in  the 
course  of  the  ten  months  ho  remained  under  ground,  sent 
people  to  dig  him  up,  when  he  was  found  to  be  exactly  in  the 
same  position,  and  still  in  a state  of  suspended  animation.” 
On  the  same  authority  it  is  affirmed  that,  at  the  expiration 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


473 


of  ten  montlis,  the  Fakir  was  exhumed  in  the  presence  of 
Captain  Wade : also  tlie  Maharajah  and  others.  The  Captain 
witnessed  the  breaking  of  the  seals  and  the  opening  of  the 
box  and  bag.  He  also  examined  the  inanimate  body  minute- 
ly. It  was  at  first  motionless  and  pulseless,  though  its  ap- 
pearance was  otherwise  natural.  In  two  hours  the  process 
of  restoring  the  faculties  and  functions  was  fully  accomplish- 
ed, and  the  Fakir  was  apparently  as  well  as  ever. 

Many  persons  have  been  restored  to  life  by  various  inci- 
dental circumstances  or  accidents,  occurring  at  or  about  the 
time  of  burial.  Dr.  George  Watterson,  in  an  Essay  on 
“ Premature  Interments,  and  the  Uncertain  Signs  of  Death,’’ 
published  some  time  since  in  Sartain^s  Magazine,  gives  an 
interesting  and  graphic  account  of  a number  of  cases,  derived 
from  the  historical  records  of  different  countries.  Several 
of  the  more  remarkable  examples  are  circumstantially  nar- 
rated, and  many  others  are  referred  to  in  general  terms. 
Referring  exclusively  to  premature  burials  in  France,,  the 
writer  says  : 

“ In  the  course  of  twelve  years,  it  is  asserted,  that  ninety-four  cases  were 
prevented  by  fortuitous  circumstances.  Of  these,  thirty-four  persons  came 
back  to  life  the  moment  the  funeral  ceremonies  were  about  to  commence  ; 
thirteen  recovered  by  the  tender  care  and  attention  of  their  families  ; seven 
from  the  fall  of  the  coffins  ; nine  from  injuries  inflicted  by  the  needle  ; flve 
from  sensations  of  suflTocation  ; nineteen  from  accidental  delays ; and  six 
from  doubts  entertained  of  their  death.” 

Some  years  ago,  Mr.  D.  C.  Mitchell,  while  on  his  way 
from  Scotland  to  this  country,  was  suddenly  attacked  with 
brain  fever.  The  disease  did  not  yield  to  professional  treat- 
ment; but  very  soon  assumed  an  alarming  aspect.  Two 


474 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


weeks  after — with  the  impression  on  his  mind  that  he  was 
leaving  the  earth — he  died,  or  seemed  to  die.  The  bystand- 
ers said  he  was  dead  ; and  the  physician  confirmed  the  state- 
ment. A friend  claimed  from  the  Captain  the  earthly  pos 
sessions  of  the  departed,  and  it  was  decided  to  commit  the 
remains  to  the  sea  on  the  following  morning.  Before  three 
o’clock  all  things  were  in  readiness,  and  under  the  direction 
of  the  chief  mate,  and  a committee  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose, the  body  was  about  to  be  lowered  into  the  water.  A 
burial  at  sea,  and  by  night,  presents  a scene  of  unusual 
solemnity.  But  who  can  imagine  the  emotions  of  the  living 
subject  of  such  obsequies,  who,  though  incapable  of  the  slight- 
est motion,  is  still  conscious  of  all  that  is  passing.  Such  was 
Mr.  Mitchell’s  case  ; but  the  intense  agony  of  the  moment 
was  the  means  of  his  deliverance.  The  terrible  thought  that 
he  was  doomed  to  sleep  on  the  cold  floor  of  the  ocean,  smote 
his  spirit  like  a thunderbolt,  and  swept  the  palsied  nerves 
like  the  blast  of  a tempest!  There  was  a fearful  struggle, 
and  he  awoke  from  his  trance.  The  Captain  and  mate  of 
the  vessel  that  brought  Mr.  Mitchell  to  this  country,  together 
with  the  friend  who  claimed  his  temporal  possessions,  are  in 
the  world  of  souls  ; but  the  subject  of  this  painful  experience 
was,  but  a few  years  since,  still  living  in  the  body  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  perfect  health.  Mr.  Mitchell  communicated 
these  facts  to  the  writer  in  an  autographic  statement,  made 
in  August,  1853.' 

Some  time  since  the  writer  received  from  E.  G.  Fuller 
Esq.,  a gentleman  of  unquestionable  intelligence  and  veracity 

1 Por  Mr.  Mitcliell’s  complete  statemeut  of  his  remarkable  experience,  see 
the  Author’s  Telegraph  Papers,  Vol.  I.,  p.  427. 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


475 


— whose  residence  is  in  Coldwater,  Michigan — the  main 
facts  of  a case  of  peculiar  interest,  and  which  will  afford  a 
striking  illustration  of  my  subjects  Columbia  Lancaster,  a 
lawyer,  who  formerly  lived  in  Centerville,  St.  Josephus 
County,  Michigan,  removed  in  the  autumn  of  1840  to  Mis- 
souri, with  a view  of  going  to  Oregon  in  Ihe  spring  of  Ml. 
Tie  accordingly  started  and  pursued  his  course  to  the  dis 
tance  of  several  days’  journey  beyond  Fort  Laramie,  whei. 
his  wife,  who  accompanied  him,  became  seriously  ill.  He 
waited  a day  or  two,  in  the  hope  that  Mrs.  L.  would  speedily 
recover.  But  her  illness  continued,  and  he  directed  the  rest 
of  the  company — except  one  man,  who  remained  to  assist  him 
in  the  care  of  his  wife — to  proceed  on  their  way,  himself  de- 
signing to  follow  them  as  soon  as  the  patient  was  sufficiently 

recovered,  or  to  return  should  she  be  unable  to  continue  the 

• 

journey. 

But  Mrs.  Lancaster  grew  worse,  and  the  man  who  remain- 
ed with  Mr.  L.  and  his  lady  was  sent  back  to  Fort  Laramie 
for  medicines.  . He  had  been  gone  but  a short  time  when  the 
patient  expired.  Mr.  L.  remained  there  with  the  form  of 
his  fair  companion  until  the  man  came  back  from  the  Fort. 
On  his  return  he  was  accompanied  by  two  Indians,  who  were 
strongly  attached  to  Mrs.  Lancaster,  on  account  of  her  ^:re- 
vious  kindness  to  them.  The  Indians  formed  a litter,  by 
placing  blankets  and  other  suitable  articles  on  poles.  On 
this  rude  carriage  the  body  was  placed,  and  the  Indians  con- 
veyed it  some  300  miles  through  the  wilderness,  fording 
streams  and  surmounting  whatever  obstacles  were  in  the  way. 
On  arriving  at  Fort  Laramie,  preparations  were  made  for 
the  funeral ; but  before  the  remains  were  finally  disposed  of, 

30 


476 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  eight  days  after  3Irs.  Lancaster  ivas  supposed  to  have 
died,  the  hod.y  exhibited  signs  of  returmng  life,  and  by  degrees 
she  was  fully  restored!  When  Mrs.  L.  had  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  to  converse,  she  assured  her  friends  that  she 
was  all  the  while  perfectly  conscious  of  every  thing  that 
occurred,  and  she  even  related  the  conversation  and  tliL 
several  incidents  that  transpired  during  the  journey.  * 

A few  months  since,  an  eminent  Presbyterian  divine  in 
New  York  was  borne  by  disease  to  the  very  portals  of  the 
invisible  world.  He  had  a distinct  consciousness  of  his  con- 
dition, Vailed  in  light,  his  spirit  rose  and  hovered  over  ths 
body.  He  could  distinctly  see  the  wasted  form,  stretched 
on  the  couch  ‘beneath  him,  pale,  pulseless  and  cold,  but  his 
immortal  self  was  thrilled  with  inexpressible  peace  and  joy. 
Just  then  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  but  strongly 
attached,  called  to  him  with  the  deep  earnestness  of  tliat  un- 
dying love  which  can  endure  all  things  but  separation  from 
the  object  of  its  devotion.  The  potent  magnetism  of  that 
loving  heart  counterpoised  the  combined  attractions  of  the 
spheres,  and  even  recalled  the  unsliackled  spirit  from  tlie 
Heavens  just  opening  to  receive  it.  He  returned  to  the 
body.  The  next  moment  a gentle  voice — calling  his  name 
in  tones  of  mingled  tenderness  and  grief— vibrated  on  the 
outward  ear,  reminding  him  that  he  was  still  a dweller  in 
the  earth/ 

There  is  a power  in  human  love  that  can  repel  disease  and 
death,  and  stay  the  parting  soul.  When,  for  example,  a liv* 

• Mr.  Lancasler  is  not  unknown  as  a public  man.  If  the  author  is  not  in 
error,  he  was  the  first  Delegate  elect  to  Congress  from  Washington  Terri- 
tory. In  1850  his  wife  was  living,  and  enjoying  her  accustomed  licallh. 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


477 


ing  person  with  strong  sympathies  and  an  intense  devotion, 
has  for  some  time  been  in  close  contact  with  the  mortal  re- 
mains of  some  dear  friend,  it  has  occasionally  happened  that 
the  departed  spirit,  being  en  rapport  with  this  living  and 
loving  medium,  has  reentered  its  deserted  dwelling,  and  per- 
haps remained  for  years.  Such  a resurrection  of  the  dead, 
so-called,  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  relations  of  mind 
and  matter,  and  the  laws  of  natural  and  spiritual  dynamics. 
I propose  to  illustrate  this  point  by  citing  additional  examples. 

Some  time  since,  the  Memphis  Whig  published  the  facts 
of  an  interesting  case.  A married  couple  were  on  their  way 
from  New  Orleans  up  the  river,  when  the  husband  sickened 
and  died.  'I’he  bereaved  widow  landed  at  Memphis  with 
the  remains,  where  she  made  arrangements  for  the  funeral. 
The  form  (»r  her  bosom  friend  was  about  to  be  conveyed  to 
the  scene  of  its  final  repose.  But  fond  affection  demanded 
the  nrivilege  of  one  last,  lingering  look,  and  accordingly  the 
lia  was  removed  from  the  coffin.  Bending  over  the  cold  and 
apparently  lifeless  form,  she  bathed  the  brow  with  her  scald- 
ing tears,  and  fervently  kissed  the  frigid  lips.  In  this  great 
struggle,  love  triumphed  over  death.  There  was  one  who 
had  “ slept^^  as  long,  and  doubtless  as  profoundly,  as  Lazarus; 
but  the  Divine  Spirit  that  animates  all  things — acting  through 
the  mediumship  of  a frail  woman — dissolved  death’s  icy 
chains,  and  set  the  captive  free.  That  man  recovered,  and 
with  his  wife  soon  left  Memphis,  inspired  with  the  new  energy 
of  returning  health  and  emotions  of  grateful  reverence  toward 
the  Being  in  whose  hand  are  the  issues  of  life. 

The  following  illustration  of  the  power  of  love,  and  the 
efficacy  of  vital  magnetism  in  reanimating  the  dead,  is  deriv- 


478 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ed  from  a paper,  read  some  time  since  before  tlie  French  Aca- 
demy of  Science.  The  subject  had  exhibited  no  signs  of  life 
for  ten  days^  and  all  the  medical  attendants  declared  that 
she  was  dead.  The  bell  of  the  village  church  was  tolling  for 
the  funeral,  when  an  old,  familiar  friend  and  school-mate 
came  to  take  a last  farewell.  She  stooped  and  pressed  her 
lips  to  those  of  her  departed  friend.  She  remained  in  this 
position  for  some  time,  until  the  bystanders,  fearing  that  she 
might  be  injured  by  uncontrollable  emotion,  attempted  to  re- 
move her.  She  silently  waved  her  hand  for  them  to  retire, 
but  preserved  her  connection  with  the  inanimate  form  of  her 
youthful  companion.  At  length  she  started  with  intense  sur- 
prise, and  exclaimed,  “ She  lives  I”  The  signs  of  life  proved 
to  be  unequivocal.  The  spirit,  already  enfranchised,  came 
back  to  the  scenes  of  its  mortal  imprisonment,  and  it  came 
in  answer  to  love’s  silent  prayer.  This  subtile  power  of  at- 
traction is  so  strong  that  no  distance  can  separate  us  from 
Kindred  souls. 

“ Far  off  their  home  may  be, 

Beneath  the  glory  of  an  Eastern  sky, 

Or  where  bright  isles  amid  blue  waters  lie 
And  thou  mayest  no  more  see 
The  forms  which  were  their  spirit’s  earthly  shrine, 

But  oh  ! if  thou  canst  love  them,  they  are  thine.^’ 

In  this  case,  it  is  evident  that  the  lungs  were  first  moved 
by  tlie  warm  life-breath  of  the  friend.  Moreover,  by  direct 
pliysical  contact,  at  a point  intimately  connected  with  the 
brain  and  vital  organs,  a current  of  vital  electro-magnetism 
was  transmitted  from  the  living,  positive  organism  to  the  in- 
animate body,  the  nerves  of  which  served  as  conductors  in 
the  transfusion  of  the  subtile  principle.  And  tlius  the  dead 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH.  479 

f 

of  ten  days  was  raised,  by  means  simple  and  natural  as  a 
sister’s  kiss.  Oh,  if  you  are  animated  by  a love  that  fears 
no  death  and  knows  no  change ; love  that  is  stronger  than 
all  temptation,  and  wrong,  and  cruelty  ; that  gathers  strength 
from  life’s  rudest  conflicts,  and  even  amid  scenes  of  decay 
blooms  over  lonely  sepulchers  ; then,  indeed,  you  may  grap- 
ple with  Death,  and  perhaps  conquer  him  on.  the  field  of  his 
conquests,  and  almost  take  from  the  remorseless  grave  the 
pale  and  ghastly  trophies  of  his  victory  ! 

The  case  of  Rev.  William  Tennent.  of  New  Jersey,  a cler- 
gyman of  the  Presbyterian  branch  of  the  Church,  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  on  record.  While  conversing  with  his 
brother  in  Latin,  respecting  the  state  of  his  soul,  and  his 
prospects  in  the  life  to  come,  he  expressed  doubts  concern- 
ing his  future  happiness.  Just  at  that  moment  he  suddenly 
lost  the  power  of  speech  and  voluntary  motion  ; he  was  ap- 
parently insensible,  and  his  friends  believed  that  the  spirit 
had  vacated  its  earthly  tabernacle.  Arrangements  were  ac- 
cordingly made  for  the  appropriate  solemnities ; but  his  phy- 
sician, who  was  also  a warm,  personal  friend,  was  not  satis- 
fied, and  at  his  request  the  funeral  rites  were  delayed.  Three 
days  had  passed  ; the  eyes  were  rayless,  the  lips  discolored, 
and  the  body  eold  and  stiff.  The  brother  insisted  that  the 
remains  should  be  entombed.  The  critical  hour  at  length 
arrived  ; the  people  had  assembled,  and  the  occasion  was 
about  to  be  solemnized  by  appropriate  ceremonies,  when  the 
whole  company  was  startled  by  a fearful  groan  ! The  eyes 
were  opened  for  a moment,  but  closed  again,  and  the  form 
remained  silent  and  motionless  for  an  hour.  Again  a heavy 
groan  proceeded  from  the  body,  and  the  eyes  were  opened  ; 


480 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


loiit  in  an  instant  all  signs  of  returning  animation  had  vanished. 

After  another  interval  of  an  hour,  life  and  consciousness, 
with  the  power  of  voluntary  motion,  were  measurably  re- 
stored. After  his  restoration  it  was  found  that  Mr.  Tennent 
had  lost  all  recollection  of  his  former  life,  and  the  results  of 
his  education  and  experience  were  wholly  obliterated  from 
his  mind.  He  was  obliged  to  learn  the  alphabet  of  his  ver- 
nacular. His  memory  at  length  returned,  and  with  it  his  for- 
mer'mental  possessions ; but  his  doubts  respecting  the  future 
life  were  all  dissipated  forever.  During  liis  absence  from 
the  body  he  was  intromitted  to  the  Heavens,  and  like  Paul, 
heard  and  saw  things  unutterable.  The  trances  and  visions 
of  the  ancient  Prophets  and  Apostles  were  intrinsically  no 
more  remarkable  tban’this  experience  of  Mr.  Tennent.* 

Among  the  ancient  miracles,  so-called,  the  alleged  resur- 
rection of  certain  dead  persons  is  perhaps  regarded  as  the 
most  mysterious  and  questionable.  If,  however,  the  reixni- 
raation  of  corporeal  forms  from  which  life  had  departed, 
was  and  is  a fact,  we  shall  do  nothing  to  discredit  the  same 
by  attempting  to  naturalize  this  seeming  miracle.  I shall 
not  undertake  to  prove  that  the  dead  may  be  raised,  either 
by  electricity,  magnetism,  or  any  other  natural  agent ; or, 
indeed  that  any  organized  body  was  ever  restored  to  life 
after  decomposition  had  commenced.  It  is  rather  my  object 
to  show  that  in  cases  of  suspended  animation,  the  involun- 
tary action  of  the  organs  has  often  been  restored  by  accident, 
and  by  a wise  use  of  natural  means.  Some  of  the  cases  re- 
corded in  the  Scriptures  were  obviously  examples  of  this 


‘ See  Christian  Family  Annual,  for  an  account  of  bis  experience. 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


481 


kind.  That  the  alleged  facts  were  actual  occurrences,  the 
writer  has  no  doubt ; but  it  is  not  so  clear  that  dissolution 
was  complete  in  any  given  example.  If  only  the  visible  in- 
dications of  life  were  suspended,  we  may  be  authorized  to 
conclude  that  the  appropriate  use  of  natural  means  might 
have  sufficed  to  arrest  the  process  of  dissolution,  and  to  delay 
the  spirit’s  final  departure.  Let  us  bring  the  Biblical  ex- 
amples to  trial  by  this  principle  of  interpretation.  In  the 
second  Book  of  Kings,  it  is  alleged  that  Elisha  raised  a 
child  from  the  dead  ; but  the  experiment  was  made  only  a 
few  hours  after  the  suspension  of  the  vital  functions.  We 
may  therefore  suppose,  that  the  transition  was  not  complete 
when  the  prophet  arrived,  and  that  he  intuitively,  or  by  a 
clairvoyant  vision,  perceived  that  certain  natural  means 
would  restore  life.  In  the  text  it  is  stated,  in  substance, 
that  he  stretched  himself  on  the  inanimate  body,  taking  the 
hands  in  his  own,  and  putting  his  mouth  to  the  mouth  of  the 
child  ; that  the  flesh  waxed  warm,  the  child  sneezed  and 
opened  its  eyes. 

I have  no  disposition  to  dispute  the  possibility  of  a divine 
or  supra-mortal  agency  in  similar  occurrences ; but  the 
Scriptural  narrative,  in  this  case,  rather  indicates  that  the 
result  TRay  have  been  accomplished  by  merely  natural  and 
human  means.  The  body  was  cold,  and  heat  was  essential 
to  the  restoration  of  life.  Accordingly  the  prophet  stretch- 
ed himself  on  the  body.  A current  of  vital  magnetism  was 
thus  communicated  to  the  form  of  the  child,  and  the  flesh  be- 
came warm,  because  heat  is  naturally  and  necessarily  dif- 
fused or  radiated.  Respiration  had  ceased,  and  to  restore 
it  again  it  was  necessary  to  expand  the  lungs  and  to  produce 


482 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


an  artificial  respiration.  For  this  purpose  it  is  said,  that 
Elisha  put  iiis  mouth  to  the  mouth  of  the  child — he  breathed 
into  him  and  the  child  sneezed,  which  was  an  infallible  sign 
of  returning  animation.  By  the  introduction  of  air  into  the 
lungs  the  blood  began  to  be  oxygenized,  and  the  whole  vital 
economy  was  moved  again  by  the  mysterious  principle  of 
Life.  Now  those  who  maintain  that  this  was  a superna- 
tural occurrence,  in  the  popvlar  sense  of  that  term,  should 
answer  the  following  interrogatories  : Why  was  it  necessary 
to  warm  the  body  ? For  what  purpose  did  the  prophet  put 
his  mouth  to  the  mouth  of  the  child  ? If  the  body  was  made 
warm  by  contact  with  another  and  a living  body,  and  the 
lungs  were  inflated  with  atmospheric  air,  in  order  to  restore 
life,  were  not  these  natural  means  ? Finally,  if  the  agents 
and  methods  employed  in  the  process  were  all  natural,  can 
the  result  be  properly  regarded  as  .sw^;er-natural  ? 

The  most  notable  instances  in  the  New  Testament  lead 
the  rational  inquirer  to  the  same  general  conclusion.  They 
were  obviously  cases  of  suspended  animation,  and  the  resto- 
ration of  the  vital  functions  was  doubtless  accomplished  by 
the  proper  application  of  mental  and  material  forces — not  in 
violation  of  natural  law,  but  agreeably  to  the  eternal  princi- 
ples of  mind  and  matter.  This  will  appear  from  an  exami- 
nation of  particular  examples. 

It  happended  when  Paul  was  preacliing  a very  long  ser- 
mon at  Troas,  that  a young  man  fell  asleep,  while  seated  in 
a third  story  window,  and  losing  his  equilibrium  fell  to  the 
ground.  The  shock  produced  an  instantaneous  paralysis  of 
the  whole  system  ; and  it  is  alleged  tliat  he  “ was  taken  up 
[for]  dead.  And  Paul  went  down  and  fell  on  him  f and 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


whilst  thus  embracing  the  body  he  addressed  the  excited 
multitude,  saying,  “ Trouble  not  yourselves,  yb?'  his  life  is  in 
him.’^  It  appears  that  while  the  Apostle  was  in  this  electro- 
vital  connection  with  the  young  man,  the  latter  very  natu- 
rally recovered  from  his  temporary  asphyxia.  (Acts,  xx. 
9—12.; 

On  one  occasion  Jesus  was  called  to  the  house  of  a certain 
ruler  whose  daughter  was  supposed  to  be  dead.  But  per- 
ceiving what  the  crowd  could  not  know,  namely,  that  the 
soul  had  not  departed,  he  said,  “ Give  place,  for  the  maid  is 
not  dead  hut  sleepeth;  and  they  laughed  him  to  scorn. But 
when  Jesus  took  the  girl  by  the  hand  she  was  at  once  re- 
stored to  a state  of  complete  animation.^  (Matt.,  ix.,  23 — 25.) 

The  foregoing  examples  are  commonly  regarded  as  mira- 
cles, in  the  theological  sense  of  the  term.  It  is  very  gene- 
rally presumed,  that  the  persons  whose  cases  are  thus  inci- 
dentally mentioned  in  the  evangelical  narratives,  were  really 
dead,  in  the  full  sense  that  imports  a complete  and  final 
separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body.  But  this  assumption 
can  neither  be  reconciled  with  the  letter  nor  the  spirit  of  the 
evangelical  account.  Paul  declared  that  the  young  man  was 
still  alive  ; and  Jesus,  affirmed  that  the  ruler’s  daughter  was 
not  dead.  The  language  is  unequivocal ; and  in  regarding 
these  as  mere  examples  of  suspended  animation,  we  maintain 
a rational  view  of  the  subject,  at  the  same  time  we  stand  by 
the  record.  Those  who  entertain  and  defend  an  opposite 
opinion — by  insisting  that  the  individuals  were  actually  re- 
surrected from  a state  of  absolute  death — virtually  dispute 
the  record,  and  are  left  to  conduct  their  controversy  with  the 
authorities  they  profess  to  revere. 


484 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


/[.ct  US  select  a single  additional  example  from  the  New 
Testament.  With  a view  to  test,  by  the  most  searching 
ordeal,  the  strength  of  the  rule  of  interpretation  I have 
adopted,  as  compared  with  the  prevailing  theological  idea, 
it  shall  be  the  case  of  Lazarus.  The  account  of  his  resur- 
rection may  be  found  in  the  Xlth  chapter  of  John.  When 
Jesus  heard  that  Lazarus  was  ill,  he  said,  “ This  sickness  is 
not  unto  death  “after  that  he  saith  unto  them,  our  friend 
Lazarus  sleepcth  f and  again,  “ Jesus  said  plainly  Lazarus 
is  dead.’’  From  the  terms  here  employed,  as  well  as  from 
the  nature  of  the  case  itself,  it  is  made  to  appear  that  Laza- 
rus had  fallen  into  a state  of  physical  insensibility,  in  which 
his  external  consciousness  was  wholly  destroyed  for  the  time 
being,  and  that  the  spirit  would  not  has^e  returned  again  to 
the  sphere  of  its  mundane  relations,  had  no  sufficient  effort 
been  employed  to  restore  the  organic  action. 

This  view  of  the  subject  will  enable  us  to  harmonize  the 
several  statements  which  the  Evangelist  has  attributed  to 
Jesus;  and  in  this  way  alone  can  they  ever  be  reconciled. 
Lazarus  was  sick,  but  not  unto  death ; when  there  were  no 
longer  any  perceptible  signs  of  life,  he  told  the  disciples  that 
his  friend  slept ; but  perceiving  that  they  were  subject  to  a 
misapprehension,  in  thinking  that  he  had  merely  “ spoken 
of  taking  rest  in  [natural]  sleep,  he  said  plainly,  [obviously 
for  no  other  purpose  but  to  correct  their  mistake]  Lazarus 
'hs  deadT  But  we  discover  in  the  latter  expression  nothing 
inconsistent  with  the  essential  features  of  our  explanation. 
Death,  as  has  been  observed,  is  a progressive  transforma- 
tion. If  the  term  were  only  used  to  denote  the  completion 
of  such  transformation,  it  could  not,  with  a strict  regard  to 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


485 


Dliilosopliic  precision,  have  been  applied  in  any  case  where 
putrefaction  did  not  exist,  this  being  the  only  infallible  sign 
that  the  life  on  earth  is  ended.  But  a person  may  be  said 
to  be  dead  before  decomposition  begins — even  before  respi- 
ration has  ceased,  provided  the  transformation  is  surely  going 
on,  and  the  result  inevitable  ; as  we  sometimes  say,  a man  is 
ruined,  undone,  lost,  or  that  he  is  a dead  man,  when  we  see 
that  his  physical  condition,  his  course  of  life,  or  his  exposure 
to  some  impending  disaster  must  inevitably  result  in  destruc- 
tion. Many  persons  in  whom  the  organic  action  has  been 
suspended  for  whole  days  together,  still  hold  their  lives  by 
a better  tenure  than  others  who  have  experienced  no  such 
interruption  of  the  vital  functions.  Lazarus  was  dead — in  a 
qualified  sense — during  the  period  of  suspended  animation, 
and  had  not  Jesus  interposed,  the  dissolution  would  have 
been  complete  and  permanent. 

The  remains  of  Lazarus  had  been  deposited  in  a cave ; 
and,  from  the  record  of  the  circumstances,  it  may  be  inferred 
that  the  form  had  remained  in  an  inanimate  state  for  four 
days.  But  this  conclusion  is  not  warranted.  It  is  well 
known — and  no  theological  student  will  dispute  the  fact — 
that  the  Jews,  in  numbering  days  with  reference  to  any  oc- 
currence, not  only  included  the  one  on  which  the  event 
transpired,  but  also  the  day  whereon  the  same  was  made  a 
suoject  of  remark.  It  will  be  perceived,  therefore,  that  the 
precise  period  might  have  been  much  less  than  would  other- 
wise appear  irom  the  lace  ot  tne  recora.  Wad  the  event 
actually  occurred  during  the  last  hour  of  the  first  day,  and 
been  made  the  subject  of  reference  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth,  both  days,  by  the  Hebrew  method,  would  have  been 


486 


MAN  AND  HIS  RF.LATIONS. 


included,  while  the  precise  time  might  have  been  little  more 
than  forty-eight  hours.  But  allowing  the  longest  possible 
time  warranted  by  the  phraseology  as  now  commonly  under- 
stood, the  case  is  not  more  extraordinary  than  some  of  our 
modern  instances.  There  are  many  well  authenticated  ex- 
amples of  persons  having  been  dead,  at  least  to  all  human 
appearance,  for  an  equal  or  longer  period,  who  have  subse- 
quently been  restored,  seemingly  without  the  intervention 
of  any  supernatural  means. 

Those  who  are  determined  to  have  Religion  unnatural 
and  Nature  irreligious,  make  a strong  point  here,  if  allowed 
to  assume  what  they  have  never  been  able  to  prove,  viz.  : 
that  the  body  of  Lazarus  was  in  a partially  decomposed  state 
at  the  time  of  its  resurrection.  The  words  of  Martha  (39th 
verse)  furnish  the  only  conceivable  ground  for  this  unwar- 
rantable assumption.  But  Martlia  did  not  pretend  to  speak 
from  any  interior  knowledge  or  perception  of  the  real  or 
alleged  fact.  We  have  no  evidence  that  she  was  inspired  ; 
the  Evangelist  does  not  say  so,  and  it  is  fair  to  presume,  that 
she  merely  expressed  a conviction  founded  on  general  obser- 
vation in  similar  cases.  Of  course,  no  enlightened  and  well- 
balanced  mind  v»dll  attempt  to  support,  by  such  frail  props, 
a system  that  boldly  denies  our  right  to  reason  on  religious 
subjects,  and  vainly  attempts  to  bend  the  essential  laws  of 
Nature  to  its  arbitrary  dicta. 

M.  Ernest  Benan  in  his  late  work  reflects  no  light  on  tliis 
question.’  It  was  not,  indeed,  anticipated  that  an  author 
with  so  large  a basilar  development,  and  with  strong  consti- 


‘See  Wilbour’Q  translation  of  Renan’s  Life  of  Jesus,  np.  304-o 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


487 


tutiorial  proclivities  to  a material  and  sensuous  philosophy, 
would  be  able  to  furnish  a solution  of  the  profound  psycho- 
logical problems  involved  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  A theologi- 
cal education  and  a persuasive  style  are  not  all  that  is  re- 
quired to  qualify  one  for  so  difficult  a task.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  man  wlio  would  perform  this  work,  with  honor  to 
himself,  must  intuitively  recognize  the  supra-mortal  powers 
and  invisible  forces  that  surround  him  in  the  Universe,  and 
clearly  perceive  their  relations  to  the  phenomena  of  the  visi- 
ble world.  With  an  organization  and  culture  adapted  to 
the  external  plain  of  observation  and  thought,  one  can  only 
survey  the  surface  of  such  a character,  while  he  has  no 
power  to  discover  the  hidden  springs  of  that  most  natural 
and  spiritual  life. 

But  the  religious  public  have  a right  to  demand  of  the 
author,  who  ventures  to  seriously  meddle  with  the  evidences 
that  support  the  common  faith  of  the  Christian  world,  some 
measure  of  consistency  and  candor  in  his  treatment  of  so 
grave  a subject.  Yet  M.  Renan  presumes,  that  the  friends 
of  Lazarus  were  so  anxious  to  establish  the  claims  of  Jesus 
to  supernatural  power,  that  they  were  not  only  capable  of 
great  exaggeration,  in  their  statement  of  the  essential  facts 
of  the  case,  but  to  accomplish  their  object,  they  did  not 
hesitate  to  resort  to  a pious  fraud.  It  is  seriously  suggested 
that,  even  Lazarus  himself,  prostrated  by  extreme  illness — 
wliich  naturally  leads  the  subject  to  solemn  thought  and 
self-examination — “ caused  himself  to  he  sioathed  in  grave 
clothes,  as  one  dead,  and  shut  up  in  his  family  tomb  !^'  in 
other  words,  with  the  termination  of  his  mortal  career  in 
view,  and  the  great  realities  of  the  eternal  worm  impend- 


488 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ing,  he  is  supposed  to  have  engaged  in  this  grotesque  and 
solemn  farce.  With  no  other  purpose  but  to  further  the  de- 
signs of  his  enthusiastic  and  unscrupulous  relatives,  and  to 
establish  a false  reputation  for  their  common  Master,  he  thus 
allows  liimself  (in  th^  opinion  of  this  author)  to  be  used  as 
a mere  in  this  senseless  mockery  of  death  and  the 

grave ! 

The  musical  speech  and  graceful  manners  of  M.  Renan 
but  half  conceal  the  destructive  tendencies  of  his  book,  and 
the  defenders  of  the  faith  will  scarcely  mistake  him  for  a 
disciple.  Had  he  disproved  the  cardinal  fact ; had  he  de- 
molished the  legitimate  claims  of  the  Christian  religion,  or  in 
any  manner  impaired  the  foundations  of  a rational  faith  ; 
surely,  his  eloquent  attestation  of  the  superiority  of  Jesus 
to  other  men  ; his  esthetic  appreciation  of  the  harmony  of 
his  character  ; of  the  humane  spirit  of  his  teachings  ; the 
child-like  simplicity  of  his  life,  and  the  transcendent  purity 
of  his  worship — would  all  have  been  powerless  to  repair  the 
mischief.  Indeed,  the  fortress  that  an  enemy  has  once 
breached,  by  the  use  of  his  masked  batteries,  is  not  to  be 
restored  by  a thin  coat  of  transparent  varnish,  though  it  bo 
applied  to  the  ruins  by  the  most  skillful  hand, 

I have  little  inclination  to  dogmatize  on  a subject  of  this 
nature,  and  how  far  the  examples  from  the  Scriptures  re- 
semble the  other  facts  cited  in  this  connection,  the  reader 
will  judge.  Their  outward  aspects  sufficiently  indicate  that 
they  depend  on  the  same  internal  principles,  and  hence  they 
must  inevitably  be  classed  together.  Indeed,  tlioy  admit  of 
no  other  disposition,  especially  when  they  serve  to  elucidate 
one  d'stinct  phase  of  the  operation  of  the  same  law.  it  is 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


489 


of  no  j^reat  importance  wlietlier  the  facts  occur  in  Asia  or 
America..  Moreover,  they  are  of  no  more  consequence  to 
science  because  they  are  two  thousand  years  old  ; nor  will 
the  ]')hilosophical  inquirer  prefer  the  testimony  of  a foreigner, 
and  a dead  man,  to  that  of  the  living  witness  who  stands  in 
his  presence. 

Tlie  case  of  Lazarus  appears  the  more  remarkable,  because 
it  can  not  be  inferred,  from  the  Evangelical  narrative,  that 
any  visible  means  were  employed  ; or,  indeed,  that  the  result 
depended  on  any  direct  physical  contact.  But  God,  Nature, 
and  the  human  mind  have  invisible  means  and  modes  of 
operation.  God  is  unseen,  and  Nature  vails  the  ministers  of 
his  will.  Only  effects  are  perceptible  on  the  natural  plain  ; 
causes  belong  to  that  world  which  no  mortal  eye  hath  seen. 
The  events  that  men  call  miracles,  are  usually  far  less 
wonderful  than  the  familiar  operations  of  Nature.  Shall 
we  say  that  a notable  miracle  is  performed  when  an  inani- 
mate body  receives  a new  quickening,  and  yet  discover  no 
greater  miracle  in  the  very  existence  of  oil  living  things  ? 
Every  where  I see  that  the  Divine  power  is  working  after  a 
uniform  and  natural  order,  organizing  and  animating  the  most 
beautiful  creations  with  a portion  of  his  Spirit.  This  is  the 
greatest  of  all  miracles.  It  must  require  a superior  divine 
energy,  if  possible,  to  make  a new  hody^  and  to  create  a 
deathless  soul  to  dwell  in  it,  than  to  reanimate  an  organiza- 
tion which,  but  yesterday,  was  inspired  with  all  the  powers 
of  life,  and  sense,  and  thought. 

The  human  mind  is  a psycho-electrical  magnet  ana  me- 
dium, connecting  the  earth  with  the  heavens,  since  man  con- 
tains the  elements  and  attributes  of  boih  worms  in  his  two- 


490 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


fold  nature.  Mind  acts  on  mind  without  corporeal  conjunc- 
tion. This  is  demonstrated  by  every  successful  attempt  to 
magnetize,  or  otherwise  influence  a person  without  speech  or 
sensible  contact.  The  form  of  Lazarus  was  in  a perfectly 
negative  state  ; and  a great  physical,  spiritual,  and  divine 
Magnet,  in  the  person  and  power  of  Jesus,  stood  at  the  door 
of  the  sepulcher.  The  powers  of  the  Heavens,  acting  through 
the  concentrated  energies  of  his  mind,  and  the  subtile  agents 
of  the  natural  world,  established  the  necessary  connection. 
Virtue  descended  and  went  out  from  Jesus  to  quicken  the 
lifeless  form.  The  vital  fluids  began  to  circulate  ; the  life- 
giving  energy  was  transfused  through  all  the  veins  and  ar- 
teries ; a subtile,  all-communicating  spirit  ran  along  the 
avenues  of  sensation,  and  the  nerves  moved  like  the  strings 
of  an  untuned  lyre,  when  they  are  swept  by  a mighty  wind. 
A loud  voice  reechoed  through  the  cavern,  and  the  sleeper 
awoke  to  walk  again  with  the  living, 

A state  of  complete  physical  insensibility,  and  a total  sus- 
pension of  the  power  of  voluntary  motion,  may  result  from 
a variety  of  causes.  Cataleptic  and  epileptic  diseases,  pow- 
erful electric  shocks,  violent  concussions,  strangulation,  drugs 
that  stupify  the  patient,  the  inspiration  of  noxious  gases,  and 
total  immersion  in  water,  are  among  the  diversified  causes 
and  means  whereby  the  functions  of  animated  nature  are 
daily  suspended.  The  action  of  these  agents  on  the  pliysical 
and  mental  states  of  men,  require  at  our  hands  a deliberate 
and  patient  investigation.  Here  is  a work  for  the  pliiloso- 
pher  +0  perform.  The  interests  of  science  call  for  close  ob- 
servation and  severe  analysis  ; and  the  interests  of  humanity 
demand  the  utmost  perseverance  in  the  investigation  of  tlie 


STATES  RESEMBLING  DEATH. 


491 


essential  faculties,  functions  and  conditions  of  human  nature. 
Where  such  momentous  issues  are  involved,  indifference  is 
something  worse  than  justifiable  homicide.  When  the  ques- 
tion comprehends  life  and  death,  it  is  unsafe  to  depend  on  su- 
perficial evidence,  and  carelessness  is  crime.  Experience  long 
since  demonstrated  that,  decomposition  is  the  only  positive  sign 
of  dissolution.  All  others  are  frequently  deceptive  ; and  at 
this  time,  when  so  many  are  subject  to  trances,  and,  conse- 
quently, to  intervals  of  suspended  animation — in’  their  more 
external  aspects  analogous  to  physical  death — great  caution 
is  necessary  lest  we  unbar  the  sepulchre  to  the  living.  The 
prudent  man  will  wait  and  watch  to  see  the  lineaments  of 
beauty  obliterated — wait  until  the  images  which  thought 
traced  on  the  yielding  clay,  ere  the  soul  departed,  have 
gradually  disappeared 

“ Before  Decay’s  efifacing  fiogers.” 

But,  in  the  liglit  of  the  author’s  philosophy,  death  is  at 
most  but  a circumstance  in  an  endless  existence.  It  destroys 
nothing.  In  the  progressive  scale  of  the  Universe,  every 
death  or  transformation  involves~by  an  inevitable  necessity 
— a more  exalted  and  enlarged  life.  The  darkest  images 
that  fall  athwart  our  mortal  pathway,  are  but  the  distant 
shadows  of  a life  that  is  sublime  and  immortal.  All  things 
that  are  of  ^Divine  origin  are  imperishable.  True,  forms 
dissolve  and  pass  away, 

but  the  changes 

Arc  constant  renovation,  and  not  death.” 

This  is  likewise  true  of  alLthe  creations  of  Nature  and  Art. 
The  despotic  institutions  of  other  countries  and  other  times 

31- 


492 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


must  pdrish  ; old  systems  and  dynasties  crumble  and  fall,  and 
their  ruins  cover  the  great  globe ; while  ancient  nationalities 
are  obliterated  and  scarcely  live  in  history.  It  is  well. 

‘‘  ’Tis  but  the  ruin  of  the  bad — 

The  wasting  of  the  wrong  and  ill  ; 

Whate’er  of  good  the  Old  Time  had 
Is  living  still.” 

Whatever  is  essentially  good  and  fundamentally  true,  is  in 
trinsically  immortal,  and  must  endure  forever.  The  living 
and  graceful  forms  which  we  delight  to  gaze  upon,  and  to 
press  to  our  bosoms,  may  perish  and  be  swept  away  like 
autumn  leaves  ; but  the  souls  that  warmed  them  with  vital 
fire,  shall  live  on  in  fairer  worlds ! 

“ Let  earth  dissolve — yon  ponderous  orbs  descend. 

And  grind  us  into  dust — the  soul  is  safe! 

The  Man  emerges — mounts  above  the  wreck 
As  towering  flame  from  Nature’s  fuueral  pyre!’’ 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 

The  grand  Harmony  of  the  Universe — Nature  the  Divine  Improvisation — 
Definition  of  Inspiration — Men  of  Genius  and  thtir  Works — The  Poets 
and  Musicians — Mozart  and  his  Requiem — Remarkable  Improvisatores  — 
Illustrations  in  the  Curiosities  of  Literature — Harris  and  the  Golden  Age 
— Sources  of  Inspired  Ideas — Language  an  imperfect  Medium — The  Spirit 
and  the  Letter — Inspiration,  a Vital  Reality  rather  than  a Fact  of  His- 
tory— Imperfect  Reports  of  the  Teachings  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles — 
The  Bible  and  its  Authors  Cerebral  Influence  on  Revelation— Analysis 
of  Biblical  Examples — The  question  of  Pleriary  Inspiration — Theological 
form  of  Popular  Materialism — Man  the  great  Fact— Sacred  Books  and 
Religious  Systems,  Phenomena  of  Human  Existence — God  speaks  to  the 
World  now. 

“ There’s  not  the  smallest  orb  which  thou  beholdest 
But  in  his  motions  like  an  angel  sings  ” 

The  Universe  maybe  regarded  as  a grand  musical  instru- 
ment, on  which  the  Divine  oratorio  of  the  Creation — 
revealed  in  the  endless  scale  of  ascending  forms  and  facul- 
ties— is  improvised.  Nature  is  a many-toned  Lyre,  whose 
chords  are  moved  by  Deity.  To  our  limited  comprehension, 
outward  objects  and  events  appear  to  be  discordant,  only 
because  their  relations  to  each  other,  and  to  the  ultimate 
designs  of  *the  Creator,  are  either  unknown  or  but  imper- 
fectly distinguished.  It  requires  a man  of  strong  faith,  of 
generous  feeling  and  liberal  sentiment,  and  of  vast  intellec- 
tual comprehensiveness,  to  reconcile  the  world's  apparent 
discords,  or  to  perceive  the  grand  harmony  that  runs  through 
all  human  experience  and  universal  history.  But  Divine 


494 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Wisdom  can  regulate  the  scale  and  dispose  of  all  events. 
From  the  beginning  the  world  has  been  full  of  beauty  and 
melody.  Successive  periods  and  unnumbered  generations  of 
men — a stately  throng,  moving  to  the  great 

“ Harmony  not  understood — ” 

I lived,  died  and  were  forgotten,  before  our  hearts  beat  in 
unison  with  the  music  of  the  spheres.  Innumerable  suns 
and  systems  felt  the  Infinite  impulsion,  and  the  shades  of 
uncreated  worlds,  clothed  in  white  nebulin,  still  repose  in 
the  Supreme  presence.  There  was  order  in  Heaven,  and  on 
earth  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  Divine  manifestations. 
The  sun  shone  on  many  forms  of  life  and  beauty  ; the  skies 
were  bright  and  the  waters  were  clear  ; flowers  bloomed  on 
the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  ; the  birds  carrolled  in  all  the 
sylvan  arcades ; sweet  perfumes  and  melodious  sounds 
danced  together  in  the  cerebral  halls  of  the  soul ; the  winds 
played  with  the  fair  maiden’s  tresses,  whilst  Love  played 
with  her  heart-strings  ; and  heroes  who  were  brave  in  battle 
went  to  dwell  in  the  courts  of  Valhalla.  From  the  thres- 
hold of  time  the  illuminated  seer  explored  the  mysteries  of 
Eternity  ; the  philosopher,  in  his  profound  abstraction,  was 
led  away  to  other  worlds,  and  the  poet  sang  his  inspired 
song  in  Paradise. 

There  is  sublime  harmony  in  all  the  works  and  ways  of 
the  Infinite.  A loving  purpose  and  an  omrlpotent  hand 
are  revealed  in  the  endless  variations  of  Being.  We  were 
not  present  when  the  performance  commenced  ; we  have  not 
witnessed  its  termination,  and  who  will  venture  to  say  that 
the  Divine  plan  is  imperfect?  There  were  “ Sons  of  God” 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


495 


who  listened  to  the  sublime  overture  of  the  singing  stars.  ’ 
Millions  of  intelligences  appeared  on  the  stage  before  us, 
and  having  performed  their  respective  parts  retired  behind 
the  scenes.  The  world  did  not  miss  them.  In  like  manner 
the  great  musical  drama  will  proceed  without  stop  or  pause, 
when  our  voices  are  heard  by  the  natural  ear  no  more.  But 
to  the  Infinite  Understanding,  the  harmony  is  unbroken.  It 
is  true  that  dense  clouds,  like  frowning  battle-ships,  ride  in 
the  midst  of  the  etherial  ocean,  and  black  banners  are  un- 
furled against  the  sky.  Suns  and  systems  aim  obscured,  and 
the  liglit  of  immortality  shut  out  from  the  soul.  To  the  be- 
nighted mind,  even  divine  ideas  look  like  frightful  monsters  ; 
inspiration  may  pass  for  a species  of  delirium,  and  angelic 
voices  be  mistaken  for  ordinary  thunder.  (John,  chap,  xii., 
28,  29.)  The  world  has  its  mournful  scenes  and  sounds,  and 
Cin  the  music  of  life  there  is  many  a wild  refrain.  Here  are 
desolate  homes,  noisome  dungeons,  and  bloody  battle-fields. 
Men  build  sepulchers  and  compose  requiems  ; plaintive  songs 
are  heard  in  the  wilderness  and  notes  of  terror  on  the  sea. 
These  all  have  their  place  in  time  and  their  use  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  race.  But  there  are  graceful  interludes  and 
delicate  symphonies,  between  the  prominent  scenes  and 


^ The  author  of  the  irost  anch'nt  poem  that  has  come  down  to  us,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  creation,  says.  “The  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ’’  (Job,  xxxviii.,  7.)  Plato  entertained  the 
poetic  idea  that  the  Muses  constituted  the  soul  of  the  planetary  system  •, 
while  the  Pythagorians  insisted  that  the  movement  of  the  spheres  in  their 
re-pective  orbits  produced  music.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  not  only  recognized 
the  principles  of  harmory  as  universal,  but  from  his  experiments  with 
light  and  the  prism,  he  discovered  that  the  primary  colors  and  their  inter- 
vening shades  occupied  spaces,  corresponding  with  the  division  of  the  dia- 
tonic scale  into  tones  and  semi-tones. 


496 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


solemn  acts  of  life  ; and  at  last,  all  who  have  been  divinely 
great  join  with  the  choral  angels  in  the  triumphal  finale,.  J 
If  the  story  of  Prometheus  was  once  a fable,  we  may  be 
sure  that — in  some  important  sense — it  is  fabulous  no  longer. 
The  immortal  lire  is  rekindled  on  our  own  altars.  Through 
all  the  inherent  forces  and  essential  laws  of  the  celestial, 
spiritual  and  natural  worlds,  a Divine  energy  is  interfused, 
and  Powers  unseen  speak  in  the  inspired  thoughts  of  living 
men  who  sit  hard  by  the  golden  gates.  In  all  eras  and  dis- 
pensations the  natural  and  human  have  sustained  intimate 
and  unbroken  relations  to  the  spiritual  and  divine.  The  re- 
lations of  great  thoughts  and  illustrious  deeds  to  the  realms 
of  spiritual  causation,  are  daily  becoming  more  perceptible. 
Indeed,  this  connection  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  of 
Nature  and  Man.  Hitherto  Literature,  Art,  Science  and 
Religion,  have  left  their  monuments  along  the  Ages  to  mark 
the  world’s  development.  They  are  diversified  and  glori- 
ous forms  of  thought!  But  such  forms  are  often  but  the 
tombs  of  ideas  that  once  possessed  a vital  existence.  Stones 
and  parchments  have  no  life-sustaining  elements.  Men  gaze 
at  the  Pyramids,  but  are  not  made  strong  ; courage  does  not 
proceed  from  the  ruins  of  the  Colosseum,  nor  wisdom  from 
the  Parthenon  ; deserted  banqueting  halls  are  places  where 
men  hunger  and  thirst,  and  thousands  die  in  spirit  beneath 
the  shadow  of  St.  Peters.  Men  who  live  in  the  past,  “ seek 
the  livin  among  the  dead  but  it  is  our  privilege  to  recog 
nize  the  divine  significance  in  the  events  of  To-day.  God 
IS  IN  THE  Present  ; and  in  the  most  vital  and  essential 
sense  Inspiration  belongs  to  the  Living  Age. 

Inspiration  is  from  the  Latin  inspiro,  and  in  the  physiolo- 


nilLOSOPIIY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


407 


gical  sense  of  the  term  represents  the  act  of  hreatldng ; in 
other  words,  the  admission  of  the  vital  air  into  the  lungs  by 
inhalation.  In  the  spiritual  sense,  inspiration  implies  the 
impregnation  of  the  germs  of  thought  in  the  mind,  and  the 
silent  infusion  of  ideas  from  some  invisible  source  of  intelli- 
gence. In  the  light  of  this  definition  it  will  be  perceived 
that  all  inspiration,  luhether  physiological  or  psychological, 
must  he  confined  to  the  existing  o,ge.  It  can  not  belong  to 
the  past,  in  any  vital  sense,  for  the  reason  that  men  only  live 
and  breathe  in  the  present.  If  the  process  be  suspended, 
there  is  an  end  of  inspiration  ; and  all  that  remains  to  us  are 
the  lifeless  records  it  may  have  left  behind  ; and  the  sweet, 
solemn  memory  of  a life  departed,  but  whose  distant  shadow 
yet  haunts  the  soul,  like 

“ A lyric  voice  from  the  Paradise  afar. 

Or  bavp-notes  trembling  from  some  gracious  star.” 

The  great  realm  of  the  Invisible  opens  around  ana  within 
us,  and  we  become  truly  inspired,  in  proportion  as  our 
natures  become  refined  and  exalted.  The  thoughts  that 
startle  the  world  witli  their  vastnese,  power  and  beauty,  are 
not  born  of  corporeal  elements.  On  this  point  we  must  re- 
spect the  actual  experience  of  inspired  minds  rather  than  the 
skepticism  of  those  who  are  incapable  of  any  similar  expe- 
rience. The  latter  class  should  be  reminded  that  it  is  as 
truly  the  privilege  of  the  eagle  to  soar  as  it  is  the  peculiar 
province  of  meaner  things  to  craiol.  The  dusty  speculations 
of  material  philosophers,  on  a question  of  this  nature,  are  en- 
titled to  no  credence,  since  they  are  obviously  as  destitute 
of  truth  as  they  are  devoid  of  all  incentives  to  honorable 
aspirations  and  a divine  life.  If  such  men  have  no  inspira- 


498 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tion,  the  fact  shows  clearly  enough  that  they  themselves  are 
earthly  and  sensual ; but  it  does  nothing  to  prove  that  others 
are  like  them,  much  less  that  the  common  faith  of  the  world 
is  an  illusion. 

■ The  remarkable  powers  of  the  human  mind,  as  developed 
in  men  of  genius,  or  displayed  by  the  seers  and  prophets  of 
all  ages,  may  be  rationally  referred  to  a kind  of  natural  in- 
spiration, of  which  the  mind  may  be,  and,  indeed,  must  he, 
receptive  in  the  higher  plans  of  its  thought  and  develop- 
ment. We  necessarily  derive  our  impressions  from  the  prin- 
ciples and  objects  with  which  we  sustain  intimate  relations. 
When,  therefore,  the  mind  is  profoundly  engrossed  with  in- 
terior realities,  it  is  proportionably  withdrawn  from  all  the 
objects  which  appeal  to  the  faculties  through  the  external 
avenues  of  sensation ; and  it  receives  influxes  from  the  realms 
of  the  Invisible,  as  naturally  as  at  other  times  it  perceives 
the  presence  and  distinguishes  the  forms  and  qualities  of  more 
material  creations.  Not  only  may  this  idea  of  inspiration 
be  entertained,  consistently  with  the  laws  and  relations  of 
the  human  mind,  bnt  it  can  only  be  rejected  at  the  sacrifice 
of  our  better  judgment.  All  original  thouglits  and  every 
creation  of  divine  beauty  and  use,  may  be  supposed  to  ema- 
nate from  that  ideal  realm — from  the  World  of  subtile  forces 
and  invisible  Powers.  Else  why  are  they  born  in  moments 
of  profound  abstraction,  when,  by  intense  mental  concentra- 
tion, the  senses  are  deadened  and  the  soul  is  quickened 
Will  the  materialist  tell  us  wliy  the  spiritual  element  enters 
so  largely  into  the  writings  of  all  men  of  genius,  if  it  is  not 
that  they  are  inspired  ? Why  does  it  predominate  in  the 
works  of  Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  all  true  poets,  if 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


499 


it  be  not  for  the  obvious  reason  that,  in  tlie  hours  of  their 
greatest  elevation  they  are  essentially  removed  from  the 
sphere  of  grosser  life,  and  sublimated  in  thought  and  feeling 
by  association  with  the  hidden  principles  of  Nature  and  the 
intelligences  of  the  immortal  world  ?y 

These  views  entirely  accord  with  the  actual  expej-ience 
and  personal  claims  of  the  most  exalted  minds.  Scarcely  a 
great  poet,  painter,  sculptor,  or  musician,  has  ever  lived  who 
was  not  conscious  of  drawing  his  inspiration  from  the  clear 
springs  of  the  immortal  life.  Not  a few  men  of  genius  have 
recognized  the  presence  and  acknowledged  their  dependence 
on  some  foreign  intelligence.  Manv  of  the  characters  and 
much  of  the  imagery  of  Milton’s  great  poem  were  derived 
from  spheres  that  mortal  eye  hath  not  seen  ; and  his  faith 
in  the  perpetual  intercourse  between  the  visible  and  invisible 
worlds,  is  thus  clearly  expressed  : 

“God  will  deign 
To  visit  oft  the  dwellings  of  just  men, 

Delighted  ; and  with  frequent  intercourse 
Thither  will  send  bis  winged  messengers 
On  errands  of  supernal  grace.” 

Shakespeare  makes  the  shades  of  departed  men  to  appear 
in  Hamlet  and  in  Macbeth  ; Wordsworth  believed  that  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  was  given  to  men  in  all  ages  ; Coleridge 
ascribed  his  inspiration  to  the  overshadowing  presence  and 
influence  of  celestial  visitors  j and  Raphael  painted  the  vis- 
■ ions  of  ethereal  beauty  which  his  immortalized  Mother  pre- 
sented to  his  vision. ! 

The  late  Carlos  T).  Stuart — widely  known  as  an  eloquent 
and  forcible  writer  in  prose  and  verse — assured  the  author 
that  all  his  poems,  to  which  he  attached  any  real  value,  were 


500 


MAN  AND  HrS  DELATIONS. 


composed  under  the  influence  of  a kind  of  syell,  which  came 
over  him  at  irregular  intervals,  and  subsided  wlieu  the  work 
in  hand  was  finished.  Concerning  the  origin  of  this  influence'/ 
he  possessed  no  certain  knowledge  ; but  all  the  mental  effort, 
of  which  he  was  conscious,  was  made  at  the  commencement 
of  the  process.  To  use  his  own  significant  language,  “ As 
soon  as  the  poem  is  fairly  started,  the  whole  flows  out,  seem- 
ingly without  effort,  and  winds  itself  up.’^  I find  the  evi- 
dence of  a similar  experience  in  the  brief  testimony  of  an- 
other poet,  who  says  — respecting  the  method  and  the  origin 
of  his  poems — 

They  are  written  by  my  hand,  but  with  little  or  no  mental  effort  on  my 
part.  The  whole  of  a poem  is  before  my  mind  at  once,  and  if  any  person 
speaks  to  me  while  I am  wrItiDg,  it  vanishes,  and  is  present  again  on  a sub- 
sequent oceasion.  That  this  is  a spiritual  gift,  I have  no  doubt ; for  I have 
no  control  over  it  ” 

The  following  account  which  Mozart  gives  of  his  inspired 
moments,  appears  to  warrant  the  inference  that  his  grand 
musical  compositions  emanated  from  the  inward  sphere  of 
the  Divine  Harmonies : 

When  all  goes  well  with  me — when  lam  in  a carriage, or  walking,  or 
when  I cannot  sleep  at  night,  the  thoughts  come  streaming  in  upon  me  most 
fluently  ; whence,  or  how,  is  more  than  I can  tell.  Then  follow  the  counter- 
point— and  the  clang  of  the  different  instruments  ; and,  if  I am  not  disturbed, 
tny  soul  is  fixed,  and  the  thing  grows  greater,  and  broader,  and  clearer ; 
iand  I have  it  all  in  my  head,  even  when  the  piece  is  a long  one  ; and  I see 
it — like  a beautiful  picture— not  hearing  the  different  purls  in  succession,  as 
they  must  be  played,  but  the  whole  at  once.  That  is  the  delighi!  The  com- 
posing and  making  is  like  a beautiful  and  vivid  dream  ; but  this  hearing  of  it 
is  the  best  of  all.” 

The  inspiration  of  Mozart  is  further  illustrated  by  the  sin- 


PHILOSOPHY  OP  INSPTRATIOJT. 


501 


gular  admonition  he  received  of  liis  approaching  dissolution. 
It  is  alleged  that  a mysterious  stranger  visited  Mozart  and 
requested  liim  to  compose  a grand  Requiem.  The  latter  sig- 
nilied  his  willingness  to  comply  with  the  request ; terms  were 
proposed  and  accepted,  when  the  stranger  abruptly  disap- 
peared. Mozart  very  soon  became  deeply  interested  and 
absorbed.  He  felt  that  he  ivas  'preioaring  the  work  for  him- 
self. At  length  the  Requiem — which  had  occupied  more  time 
tha^  was  at  first  anticipated — was  finished.  Fatigued  and 
exhausted  by  his’  protracted  ejBfort,  the  great  composer  fell 
asleep,  but  was  soon  aroused  by  the  light  footsteps  of  his 
daughter.  He  called  the  gentle  girl  to  his  side  and  said  : 
“My  Emilie  -my  task  is  done — my  Requiem  is  finished.” 
Handing  her  the  last  notes,  into  which  the  parting  soul  had 
just  breathed  the  deathless  spirit  of  song,  Mozart  admonished 
his  child  that  he  was  about  to  leave  her,  and  that  he  would 
hear  her  sing  to  those  notes  the  hymn  of  her  sainted  mother. 
With  a voice  tender  and  tremulous  with  emotion  the  gentle 
girl  commenced  : 

“'Spirit ! thy  labor  is  o’er! 

Ihy  term  of  probation  is  run, 

Thy  steps  are  now  bound  for  the  untrodden  shore, 

And  the  race  of  immortals  begun.” 

Having  concluded  the  fourth  stanza,  Emilie  yet  lingered  a 
moment  on  the  low,  melancholy  notes  of  the  piece,  when, 
'turning  from  the  instrument  to  look  for  her  fa  therms  approval, 
she  perceived  that  he  was  motionless.  • His  face  was  illumi- 
nated by  the  still,  passionless  smile  that  the  wrapt  and  glori- 
fied spirit  had  left  on  the  consecrated  clay.  In  due  time  the 
mysterious  stranger  reappeared,  but  Mozart  was  not  there. 


502 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


He  had  completed  his  beautiful  work  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
Divine  Harmonies  on  earth,  and  ascended  to  the  source  of 
his  inspirations. 

The  inspiration  of  men  of  genius  is  illustrated  by  those 
rapid  improvisations  of  poets  and  musicians  which  appear 
to  transcend  the  limits  of  the  normal  capacity.  As  to  the 
Italians,  it  is  on  no  good  authority  claimed  that  they  have 
ever  risen  in  their  impromptu  utterances,  above  such  brief 
rhapsodies  as  are  confined  to  local  and  momentary  tc^ics. 
Chivalry  and  Love  were  the  principal  themes  of  the  Trou- 
badours ; but  to  none  of  these  can  we  find  credited  any 
effort  worth  remembering.  Improvising  of  this  kind  has 
generally  been  a play  upon  the  names  and  peculiarities  of 
persons,  or  on  the  incidental  circumstances  of  the  occasion. 
We  have  heard  maudlin  specimens  at  political  and  other 
assemblages,  but  they  have  been,  without  a single  remem- 
bered exception,  as  ephemeral  as  the  incidents  which 
prompted  their  utterance. 

DTsraeli,  in  his  “ Curiosities  of  Literature,”  cites  numer- 
ous instances  of  the  rapid  composition  of  brief  pieces  by 
different  poets  ; but  none  of  the  utterance  of  a complete 
work  of  any  moment.  Fenelon  wrote  his  “ Telcmarquc,” 
(prose  history  of  the  Avandering  of  the  son  of  Ulysses  in 
search  of  his  lost  father,)  in  three  months — one  of  the  most 
rapid  performances  on  record.  DTsraeli  also  alludes  to  a 
class  of  visions  or  revelations,  current  in  the  Middle  Ages — 
represented  to  haAre  been  uttered  by  superior  powers,  through 
studious  monks  and  recluses — and  adds  that  Dante’s  “ In- 
ferno” has  been  suspected  of  indebtedness  to  a poem  knoAvn 
as  “ The  Vision  of  Alberico.”  The  “ Culprit  Fay.”  by  J. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


503 


Rodman  Drake,  a deceased  American  poet,  a production  of 
singular  beauty — but  more  remarkable  because,  notwith- 
standing its  length,  no  human  character  enters  into  it — was 
a very  rapid  composition.  But  the  poems  of  Thomas  L. 
Harris  are  far  more  remarkable  for  the  rapidity  of  their 
creation,  beside  being  immensely  superior  in  purpose  and 
character.  Among  popular  authors  there  is,  perhaps,  no 
one  that  writes  more  rapidly  than  Alexander  Dumas  ; but 
it  appears  that  Harris — by  the  special  aid  of  his  inspiring 
agents — far  transcends  tlie  utmost  limit  of  Dumas’  powers 
of  construction  and  expression. 

It  would  be  vain  to  search  the  annals  of  literature  for  a 
more  striking  example  of  poetic  inspiration  than  is  presented 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  Harris,  whose  rapid  and  brilliant  impro- 
visations have  astonished  and  delighted  many  intelligent 
witnesses,  while  they  have  arrested  the  attention  of  meta- 
physical philosophers  on  account  of  their  profound  psycho- 
logical import.  From  his  youth,  Harris  has  been  accustomed 
to  write  verse ; and  many  of  his  earlier  Lyrics — already 
widely  circulated  through  the  religious  and  secular  press — 
have  been  universally  admired.  His  earlier  poems  were  never 
mechanically  composed- were  rarely,  if  ever,  the  result  of 
previous  thought.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  apparently 
almost  as  involuntary  as  respiration.  Whenever  he  is  in 
active  sympathy  with  the  minds  of  other  poets,  whether 
living  or  dead,  he  seems  to  be  temporarily  endowed  with 
the  characteristics  of  their  genius,  respectively,  and  his 
thoughts  find  expression  in  the  peculiar  style  of  each.  It 
must  be  observed,  however,  that  this  is  no  studied  attempt 
to  imitate  others.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a spontaneous  in- 


504 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


flux  and  efflux,  "wliich  is  neither  induced  nor  interrupted 
by  liis  own  volition.  The  current  of  inspired  thought  not 
only  comes  unexpectedly,  but  it  flows  rapidly  and  terminates 
abruptly.  As  an  illustration,  a singde  example  will  be  far 
more  suggestive  than  the  most  elaborate  description. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  November,  1854,  during  a personal 
interview  with  Harris,  the  writer  chanced  to  speak  of  Edgar 
Allan  Poe.  In  a moment  H.  appeared  to  be  completely 
withdrawn  from  the  sphere  of  his  outward  relations,  and, 
during  his  profound  abstraction,  he  improvised  two  poems. 
The  second  one — a bold  and  graceful  utterance,  containing 
over  sixty  lines — ’Was  spoken  in  fifteen  minutes.  It  purports 
to  be  a description  of  the  strange  and  thrilling  experience 
of  the  Author  of  the  Raven,  on  his  introduction  to  the  realities 
of  the  Invisible  World.  The  abrupt  and  frightful  termina- 
tion of  his  mortal  career  ; the  birth  of  the  soul,  surrounded 
by  unearthly  and  imaginary  terrors,  and  the  opening  of  the 
inner  senses  amidst  the  glories  of  Paradise,  are  thus  de- 
scribed in  the  first  part  of  the  poem  : 

A lurid  mantle  wrapped  my  spirit  form, 

Cradled  in  lightnings  and  in  whirlwinds  born, 

Torn  from  the  body,  terribly  downcast, 

Plunged  headlong  through  red  furnaces  in  blast ; 

Those  seething  torrents  maddened  me  ; I fell, 

But  woke  in  Paradise  instead  of  Hell  5 
Like  song  waves  circling  in  a golden  bell, 

Like  fragrant  odors  in  a woodbine  dell. 

Like  glowing  pistiles  in  a rose  unblown, 

Like  all  sweet  dreams  to  saints  in  slumber  shown. 

Like  Heaven  itself,  like  joy  incarnate  given  ; 

And  as  a ship  through  wintry  whirlwinds  driven 
Finds  land-locked  port  in  Araby  the  blest. 

So,  I,  through  terror,  entered  into  rest  ’’  j 

A lovely  maiden,  whose  angelic  beauty  is  revealed  in  ihc 


PHILOSOPHY  OP  INSPIRATION. 


505 


transcendent  liglit  that  emanates  “from  licr  full  bosom,” 
comes  to  the  Poet,  who  is  filled  with  rapture  while  she  sings : 

“ I hav3  waited,  I have  waited, 

As  the  Evening  Star  belated, 

When  it  lingers  pale  and  lonely  by  the  purple  sunset  door. 

I have  found  thee,  I have  found  thee, 

And  with  heart-spells  fast  have  bound  thee  ; 

So  from  out  the  glowing  halo  sang  the  Angel-maid  Lenore.” 

The  Poet,  “ in  a fine  frenzy,”  then  rehearses  the  dark 
scenes  of  his  Earth-bfe — the  poverty,  despair,  desolation 
and  madness,  which  broke  his  heart  and  veiled  his  spirit  in 
the  gloom  of  a tempestuous  night.  The  feeling  of  utter 
desperation  which  possessed  all  his  faculties,  'and  burned  in 
his  brain  like  an  unquenchable  tire,  and  the  blissful  repose 
of  the  liberated  spirit  in  the  Angelic  abodes,  are  thus  vividly 
contrasted  in  the  closing  stanzas  : 

And  I fled  Life’s  outer  portal, 

Deeming  anguish  was  immortal, 

Crying,  ‘ Launch  thy  heavy  thunders,  tell  me  never  to  adore. 

Hate  for  hate,  and  curse  for  curses, 

Through  abyssmal  universes. 

Plunge  me  down  as  lost  Archangels  fell  despairingly  of  yore. 

So  the  whirlwind  bore  my  spirit, 

But  to  lands  the  Saints  inherit. 

And  it  seems  my  heart  forever  like  a ruby  cup  runs  o’er. 

I am  blest  beyond  all  blessing. 

And  an  Angel’s  pure  carressing. 

Flows  around  my  soul  forever  like  a stream  around  its  shore.” 

The  gestures  that  accompanied  the  utterance  of  this  poem 
were  highly  dramatic  ; at  the  same  time  the  features  and  in- 
tonations of  the  speaker  were  expressive  of  all  the  tender 
and  terrible  emotions  which  the  lines  so  impressively  indicate. 

The  poetic  inspiration  of  Harris  is  more  fully  illustrated 
in  several  books  which  were  published  in  1854  and  1856. 


506 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


The  “ Epic  of  the  Starry  Heaven/’  a poem  of  Four  Thousand 
Lines — characterized  by  bold  thoughts,  and  splendid  image- 
ry — was  improvised  in  the  course  of  fourteen  consecutive 
days,  the  actual  time  employed  in  the  performance  being  only 
twenty -six  hour's  and  sixteen  minutes.  The  “ Lyric  of  the 
Morning  Land,”  containing  nearly  Five  Thousand  Lines, 
was  dictated  in  about  thirty-two  hours.  It  is  every  way  re- 
markable, and  not  less  so  for  its  exquisite  delicacy  and 
beauty  than  for  the  circumstances  of  its  origin  and  the 
rapidity  of  its  creation.  The  critics  were  reminded  of 
“ Queen  Mab,”  and  more  than  one  of  them  was  led  to  infer 
that  “ the  mantle  of  the  immortal  Shelley  had  truly  fallen 
on  the  author’s  shoulders.”  “ The  Golden  Age” — a produc- 
tion of  much  wider  scope,  extending  to  Ten  Thousand  Lines, 
and  purporting  to  be  the  composite  utterance  of  several 
eminent  English  bards — was  communicated  to  the  present 
writer  and  other  witnesses,  in  less  than  one  hundred 
HOURS.  Whoever  will  regard  the  intrinsic  merits  of  these 
poems,  and  consider  the  amazing  rapidity  of  their  composi- 
tion, must  inevitably  conclude  that  they  are  unequalled  by 
any  similar  productions  in  the  whole  range  of  literature. 

! The  “ Golden  Age,”  especially,  is  a splendid  triumph  of 
the  Ideal.  There  is  a startling  reach  and  boldness  in  many 
of  the  flights,  and  the  ideas  look  like  revolutions  in  their 
elementary  development.  The  elements  of  essential  bliauty 
and  grandeur  here  mingle  in  sublime  concord,  while  the 
spirit  that  pervades  the  whole  is  serene,  lofty  and  divinely 
just.  Error,  dissipation  and  crime ; every  species  of  tyranny 
and  slavery,  and  all  the  forms  of  evil  are  condemned  and 
spurned  \ Truth  and  Love  are  crowned  with  divine  honors, 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


507 


while  personal  virtue, , practical  justice,  and  universal  holi- 
ness ai’O  hymned  as  the  appropriate  graces  and  accomplish- 
ments of  purified  and  perfected  humanity. 

In  all  these  particulars,  and  in  whatever  else  is  most  essen- 
tial to  true  poetic  excellence,  the  “ Golden  Age’^  will  not 
suffer  by  a comparison  with  any  similar  production  of  either 
ancient  or  modern  times.  The  principal  Poets  speak  with 
world-awakening  voices.  Pollock  rises  far  above  the  stand- 
ard of  his  earthly  efforts  ; the  words  of  Shelley,  of  Byron, 
and  Rousseau,  sound  like  shrill  clarion-notes  that  summon 
nations  to  battle  against  kings,  and  priests  and  tyrannies  ; 
whilst  Coleridge  lifts  his  Orphic  Lyre  and  sings  as  only  the 
“ English  Plato’’  was  wont  to  sing.  The  descriptive  por- 
tions of  this  poem  are  exti*aordinary,  as  illustrations  of  the 
compass  of  our  language.  Indeed,  it  would  severely  tax 
the  capabilities  of  the  most  gifted  mind  to  coin  its  phraseo- 
logy alone  ; which,  however,  is  neither  strained  nor  unna- 
tural, but  flowing  and  melodious  as  a valley  brook.y 

The  thouglits  of  great  poets  are  like  silver  bells  that  ring/ 
out  on  the  world’s  ear  ; their  eloquent  words  captivate,  the 
sense  like  the  tones  of  some  mellow  horn,  and  their  pure 
sentiments  steal  into  and  thrill  the  soul  like  the  sweet  echoes 
of  a shell.  Some  souls  are  so  full  of  love  and  religion  that 
life  is  all  music,  tender  and  touching.  There  are  also  voices 
that  resemble  the  notes  of  a clarion,  when  it  is  heard  from 
the  distant  summits  in  the  gray  light  of  the  morning,  calling 
peoples  to  battle  and  to  victory.  Then  there  are  vEolion 
harps  that  sigh  responsively  to  the  gentlest  whisper  of  a 
zephyr;  and  delicate  that  soften  and  spiritual- 

ize the  music  of  ruder  natures.  Some  speak  with  trumpet- 

32 


508 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


voices  before  tlic  sepulchers  of  slumbering  nations,  and  they^' 
wake  and  rise  from  the  dead  ; while  here  and  there  a deep, 
solemn  and  musical  inspiration  flows  into  some  lofty  soul, 
whose  great  thoughts  and  illustrious  deeds  cause  the  frame- 
work of  our  being  to  tremble,  as  the  measured  tones  of  a] 
grand  organ  shake  the  consecrated  pile. 

The  man  who  has  no  inspiration  depends  on  the  outward 
channels  and  the  common  sources  of  information — on  his 
investigation  of  the  outward  forms  and  phenomena  of  Na- 
ture ; on  books,  and  the  ordinary  intercourse  with  tlie  world 
through  the  medium  of  language.  The  inward  avenues  of 
perception  being  closed.  Nature  is  mainly  a sealed  book,  and 
he  is  left  to  inspect  its  covering  only,  and  to  interpret  its 
profound  mysteries  in  the  dim  light  of  his  superficial  ob- 
servation. But  the  relations  of  the  inspired  mind  to  Nature 
are  far  more  intimate.  The  great  Volume  is  opened  and 
illuminated  to  the  man  whose  inward  perceptions  are  quick- 
ened by  a living  inspiration.  When  all  the  interior  avenues 
of  the  soul  are  unobstructed,  the  powers  of  sensation  blend 
and  become  as  one  ; thus,  the  eye  being  single,  the  whole 
being  is  full  of  lighty 

While  the  inspired  mind  derives  impressions  from  the  in- 
ward principles  of  the  natural  world,  with  which  its  facul- 
ties are  in  correspondence,  it  is  also  susce})tible  of  an  infu- 
sion of  ideas  from  the  superior  spheres  of  intelligence.  But 
whatever  may  be  tlie  immediate  agents  and  remote  sources 
of  our  inspiration,  it  is  true  that  all  inspired  ideas  are  sub- 
ject to  such  limitations  as  necessarily  characterize  the  finite 
capacity.  We  may  admit  that  infallibility  belongs  to  the 
celestial  springs  of  inspired  ideas  ; but  it  certainly  docs  not 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


509 


characterize  their  terrestrial  incarnation.  The  immortal 
thought  may  be  precise  and  unerring  in  its  archetypal  form, 
but  infallibility  can  neither  distinguish  the  mundane  instru- 
ments nor  the  earthly  forms  of  its  expression.  “We  liave 
this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,’’  and  it  is  but  natural  that 
the  treasure  itself  should  be  more  or  less  corrupted  by  its 
mortal  channels  and  receptacles. 

Moreover,  language  is  but  a feeble  and  inflexible  medium, 
which  the  most  intense  emotion  cannot  render  sufflciently 
plastic  and  powerful  to  subserve  the  highest  desires  of  the 
mind.  For  the  present,  however,  Thought,  with  its  etherial 
form  and  soul  of  fire,  must  employ  this  clumsy  vehicle  and 
ride  slowly  for  the  world’s  accommodation.  Men  of  exalted 
genius  and  profound  learning  have  exhausted  the  sources  of 
language  in  their  attempts  to  incarnate  the  noblest  creations 
of  tlie  mind.  Many  gifted  souls — ascending  toward  the 
highest  heaven  of  imagination — have  seen  and  heard  what 
mortal  tongues  can  never  express.  They  are  dull,  inactive 
beings,  wlio  have  never  felt  that  all  language  is  cold,  formal, 
and  forever  inadequate  to  express  their  highest  thoughts  and 
deepest  emotions.  The  most  subtile  and  condensed  forms 
of  speech  appear  tame’  and  spiritless  to  the  mind  in  the 
light  of  its  transfigurations.  Whenever  the  inspired  man 
has  been  for  a moment  elevated  to  the  highest  plain  of  per- 
ception, and  permitted  to  view  the  unnumbered  worlds  that 
encircle  the  Infinite  Presence,  he  has  descended  with  the 
soul  quickened  and  purified  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Heavens, 
but  only  to  testify  with  an  Apostle,  that  he  was  “ Caught  up 
into  Paradise  and  heard  unspeakable  words.” 

Most  Christians  are  indebted  to  the  Jews  for  all  the  in- 


510 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


spired  or  revealed  truth  they  either  possess  or  desire  to  re- 
ceive. It  is  insisted  that  in  tlie  absence  of  the  Bible  man 
can  possess  no  certain  knowledge  of  the  immortal  life  and 
world,  and  that  he  is  incapable  of  forming  any  proper  con- 
ception of  the  relations  of  the  human  and  the  Divine.  In- 
fallible authority  is  claimed  for  the  ancient  Hebrew  records, 
at  the  same  time  all  other  claims  to  genuine  inspiration  are 
positively  rejected.  It  is  virtually  assumed  that  there  is  no- 
thing essentially  Divine  in  Nature  ; and  hence  that  a man 
may  violate  the  laws  of  his  being  and  not  endanger  the  safety 
of  his  soul,  so  long  as  there  is  no  departure  from  the  letter 
of  the  Jewish  oracles.  The  sectarian  Christian  has  no  great 
affinity  for  the  soul  of  the  Jew  ; his  small  charity  will  not 
pardon  his  unbelief ; but  he  has  a devout  and  unquestioning 
reverence  for  the  sacred  books,  and  preserves  with  the  same 
fidelity  the  most  beautiful  and  spiritual  revelations,  and  the 
darkest  details  of  idolatry  and  blood  that  disfigure  the  He- 
brew history.  It  is  a strange  infatuation  that  despises  tliel 
sons  of  Abraham  and  stifles  the  living  spirit  of  Inspiration, 
while  it  persistently  clings  to  old  parchments  and  reverences^ 
the  forms  of  inspired  ideas.  Blind  adoration,  that  thus  wor-( 
ships  the  stereotyped  record  of  an  ancient  Revelation,  wliilst 
it  virtually  denies  the  immediate  presence  and  inspiring  im 
fluence  of  God  in  the  soul ! 

We  neither  deny  the  inspiration,  of  the  Scriptures  nor  re- 
ject the  imperfect  records  that  have  been  preserved.  A 
qualified  acceptance  of  both  is  as  consistent  with  a rational 
philosophy  as  the  demand  for  still  further  revelations.  Even 
the  expression  of  a desire  for  new  forms  of  inspired  and  re- 
vealed trutli  may  lead  some  persons  to  tlie  liasty  conclusion 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


511 


that  the  author  lightly  esteems  those  we  already  possess. 
The  inference  is  illogical.  We  naturally  desire  to  perpetuate 
only  such  things  as  are  of  real  interest  and  permanent  util- 
ity. This  is  prominent  among  the  reasons  that  prompt  the 
demand  for  further  knowledge  of  the  solemn  mysteries  of 
life  and  immortality.  Why  should  tlie  current  of  inspired 
truth  be  arbitrarily  interrupted  ? Has  the  ultimate  Source 
been  exhausted,  or  has  man  lost  the  capacity  to  receive  di- 
vine instruction  ? The  common  view  of  the  subject  not  only 
disregards  our  daily  expeiience,  but  it  is  at  once  unnatural 
and  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  laws^and  relations  of  the 
human  mind. 

"6ut  it  is  said  that  we  do  not  need  any  further  revelations 
— that  we  have  enough,  and  all  that  can  reasonably  be  de- 
sired. The  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  are  regarded 
as  suflQcient  for  all  nations,  and  equally  suited  to  every  pos- 
sible degree  of  human  development.  A careful  analysis  of 
the  contents  of  the  Bible  would  probably  surprise  many 
pious  believers  who  are  prone  to  regard  it  as  a full  and  com- 
plete revelation  of  all  the  truth  that  essentially  concerns  our 
common  nature,  our  moral  relations  and  our  final  destiny. 
Yet  every  careful  reader  of  tlie  New  Testament  may  discover, 
if  he  will,  that  we  have  only  some  small  fragments  of  what 
Jesus  taught,  and  a few  scraps  from  the  discourses  of  the 
Apostles.  The  Founder  of  the  Christian  religion  was  em- 
ployed some  three  years  in  his  public  ministry,  and  yet  all 
the  words  that  are  ascribed  to  him  by  his  biographers  would 
doubtless  occupy  much  less  space  than  an  annual  message  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  chief  apostles, 
Paul,  Peter, and  John,  continued  their  ministry  twenty,  tliirty, 


512 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  fifty  yeai's,  respectively  ; and  yet  we  have  not  a com- 
plete report  of  a single  apostolic  sermon.  We  would  like 
to  read  even  a brief  synopsis  of  one  discourse  from  each  of 
the  consecrated  Twelve  ; but  the  Book  does  not  contain  so 
much.  There  were  no  phonographic  writers  then  ; — no  light- 
ning telegraphs,  nor  steam'  power-presses,  to  seize,  dissemi- 
nate, and  embalm  the  inspired  thoughts  and  words  that  fell 
from  their  lips  like  a rain  of  fire.  If,  indeed,  the  little  that 
has  come  down  to  us  is  enough  for  all  men,  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  then,  agreeably  to  this  notion,  we  must  infer  that 
nearly  all  that  Chi-ist  and  his  early  ministers  did  say,  might 
very  properly  have  been  left  unspoken  ; and  hence,  the  pro- 
tracted ministry  of  the  Apostles  may  be  regarded  as  a work 
of  supererogation. 

The  authors  of  the  Scriptures  were  not  the  only  inspired 
writers.  Several  others  have  experienced  the  divine  afflatus. 
The  word  of  God  and  tongues  of  fire  were  given  to  them. 
They  may  not  be  generally  recognized  ; but  those  who  draw 
their  inspiration  from  Nature  and  the  Heavens,  can  afford 
to  dispense  with  the  favor  of  kings  and  the  votes  of  coun- 
cils. Should  one  write  an  eloquent  preamble  and  tlien  re- 
solve that  the  stars  shine,  he  would  be  laiiglied  at,  cliiefly 
because  the  fact  is  self-evident.  Moreover,  a great  soul  need 
not  stop  to  write  its  resolutions  and  adopt  them  viva  voce. 
The  man  who  is  truly  inspired  neither  requires  a diploma  nor 
a letter  of  recommendation,  and  the  sealed  credentials  arc 
of  no  use  to  such  men.  You  feel  tlie  power  of  their  inspira- 
tion at  a distance,  and  do  not  pause  to  debate  the  question 
which  the  potent  magnetism  of  their  presence  at  once  decides. 

But  we  accept  the  Bible  not  merely  as  a work  of  unusual 


FHTLOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


interest  and  value  ; it  is  doubtless  worthy  to  be  regarded  as 
the  most  remarkable  collection  of  spiritual  experiences  ever 
given  to  the  world.  Witli  a mass  of  historical  information 
of  great  importance,  and  examples  of  the  finest  poetic  inspi- 
ration, it  contains  mucli  that  evinces  a profound  insight  into 
human  nature,  and  numerous  convincing  illustrations  of  a 
divine  agency  in  the  affairs  of  men.  But  the  Scripture 
writers  possessed  the  ordinary  characteristics  of  other  au- 
thors. Tliey  were  influenced  by  human  passions,  and  were 
liable  to  err  in  their  judgment  respecting  the  source  and  the 
value  of  their  impressions.  Indeed,  no  degree  of  wisdom 
short  of  Omniscience  can  be  exempt  from  this  liability.  'Fliey 
were,  moreover,  diversely  constituted,  and  lived  under  a 
great  variety  of  circumstances,  extending  through  a period 
of  many  centuries.  The  Scriptures  are,  for  these  reasons, 
of  a mixed  character  ; and  nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than 
to  claim  the  same  exalted  and  Divine  inspiration  for  every 
portion  of  their  contents. 

The  writer  cannot  esteem  it  to  be  profane  or  irreverent 
to  question  the  inspired  origin  of  certain  portions  of  the 
Bible.  The  truly  rational  man  must  doubt  either  the  re- 
verence or  the  intelligence  of  those  who  do  not.  Is  not  that 
man  strangely  irreverent  or  incorrigibly  stupid  who  will  admit 
of  no  just  discrimination — who  claims  for  the  confessions  of 
a penitent  adulterer  the  same  inspiration  that  gave  the  world 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  ? No  reverence  in  the  least  allied  to- 
reason  will,  for  a moment,  insist  that  Solomon’s  Song  of  his 
beloved,  and  the  wonderful  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  are  equally 
inspired.  The  former  is  an  oriental  love  song,  the  imagery 
of  which  determines  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the 


514 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


source  of  the  reputed  autlior’s  inspiration,  it  came  tlirough 
the  basilar  region  of  liis  brain.  Nor  will  any  man,  whose 
nature  is  not  sadly  perverted,  even  pretend  that  the  penal- 
ties of  the  Mosaic  code  and  the  thunders  of  Sinai  are  of 
equal  authority,  as  revelations  of  the  Divine,  with  the  heal- 
ing of  the  sick  and  the  prayer  of  the  Cross. 

It  will  be  perceived,  I doubt  not,  that  every  attempt  lo 
command  the  same  degree  of  respect  for  all  the  Scripture 
writers,  and  an  equal  degree  of  confidence  in  their  reliability 
can  only  stupify  the  rational  faculties,  while  it  must  inevit- 
ably deaden  the  liner  preceptions  and  more  religious  sensi- 
bilities of  men.  And  this,  to  a fearful  extent,  has  been  the 
tendency  and  the  result  of  the  dogmatic  theology.  Freedom 
of  thought  has  been  visited  with  unsparing  condemnation, 
and  the  right  to  reason  boldly  denied  ; Nature  has  been  ad- 
judged to  be  a profane  teacher  ; human  experience  ; the  re- 
velations of  science  ; and  the  souFs  aspirations  after  a divine 
Ideal,  have  been  distrusted  and  smothered,  that  ancient  cus- 
toms and  chronicles  might  be  revered,  and  the  world  follow 
its  old  ways.  The  sh^t  letter  of  a hook  has  been  the  final 
authority  among  men,  and  the  institution,  in  its  most  ancient 
form,  the  embodiment  of  all  attainable  wisdom.  Thus,  under- 
the  pressure  of  a terrible  necessity,  the  soul  has  struggled  to 
quench  the  fires  of  its  own  free  thought ; to  shackle  Reason, j 
and  to  confine  all  the  energies  of  immortal  expansion  within' 
the  charmed  circle  of  ecclesiastical  indulgence. 

The  sensuous  man  seeks  support  in  external  things.  He 
looks  for  security  from  political  and  social  evils  in  the  out- 
ward conditions  of  his  individual  and  associate  life.  Tem- 
poral alliances  are  resorted  to  as  the  surest  moans  of  per- 


rillLOSOPIIY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


515 


sonal  safety  and  prosperity.  Tims  millions  place  their  conk 
iidence  in  wealth  and  fame,  the  pomp  of  material  power,  and) 
the  splendor  of  worldly  circumstances.  An  ostentations 
ceremonial  worship,  gorgeous  temples,  written  creeds  and 
oracular  decrees,  are  made  to  assume  the  place  of  intimate 
communion  with  the  sources  of  divine  impulsion.  Life,  and/ 
thought,  and  freedom  are  robbed  of  their  profound  signifi-\ 
cance,  that  ancient  names,  customs,  and  books  may  be  dei-  ' 
lied.  The  words  on  a dead  parchment  become  more  sacred,  I 
in  the  judgment  of  their  possessor,  than  the  instincts  of  an  ' 
immortal  spirit.  In  this  state  man  is  an  idolater  ; not,  in- 
deed, in  the  most  repulsive  sense ; but  still  he  worships  “ the 
creature  more  than  the  Creator.’’  He  does  not  aspire  to  a 
present  direct  communion,  but  is  wont  to  search  diligently 
after  sacred  relics  and  antique  lore.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
Divine  Word,  as  it  is  some  specific  record  of  a portion  of  that 
word,  that  commands  his  reverence.  Not  for  a personal,  liv-  ^ 
ing,  and  perpetual  inspiration  does  he  utter  his  orisons  in 
faith  ; but  his  prayer,  is  rather  for  a critical  understanding 
of  the  inspired  sayings  of  other  men.  Sudh  is  the  religion 
and  the  life  of  men  in  the  flesh  while  yet  their  souls  wait  to 
be  quickened. 

We  are  accustomed  to  contemplate  other  natures  through 
the  medium  of  our  own  ; and  our  impressions  of  external 
forms  are  determined,  not  less  by  the  perfection  of  the  or- 
ganic structure  through  wliich  they  are  perceived,  than  by 
the  nature  of  the  objects  themselves.  Our  thoughts,  whether 
depending  on  sensorial  impressions,  a power  of  mental  gen- 
eration, or  an  inward  communion  with  more  exalted  beings, 
are  moulded  into  a likeness  of  the  mind  in  wliich  they  are 


516 


MAN  AND  HIS  EELATIONS. 


cast.  Thus,  wc  think  as  we  are ; in  other  words,  As  a 
man  thinkcth  so  is  he.’’  From  whatever  source  we  derive 
our  ideas,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  structure  of  the  brain, 
the  condition  of  the  nervous  system,  and  a variety  of  spirit- 
ual, temperamental,  and  outward  conditions,  greatly  modify 
all  the  forms  of  thought.  A thousand  images  steal  from  the 
vast  Unknown,  and  dance  before  us  like  pale  shadows  in 
dimly-lighted  halls,  and  then  glide  noiselessly  away,  we 
know  not  whither,  and  these,  in  the  variety  of  their  form  and 
aspect,  as  much  depend  on  the  organic  medium  through 
which  they  are  discerned,  as  on  the  objective  reality.  We 
disclose  our  ovvn  internal  qualities  rather  than  the  specific 
attributes  of  things  we  attempt  to  describe  or  unfold.  We 
may  fail  to  make  a revelation  of  the  truth,  as  it  relates  to 
the  objects  which  impress  either  the  physical  or  spiritual 
sense  ; their  shadows  may  be  imperfectly  defined  before  the 
vision,  or  otherwise  fall  obscurely  on  the  soul  ; but,  in  our 
effort  to  transfer  them,  we  necessarily,  though  perhaps  un- 
consciously, reveal  ourselves. 

In  all  ages,  revelations  from  the  Invisible  World  have 
been  essentially  modified,  by  the  physical  and  mental  charac- 
teristics of  the  persons  through  whom  they  have  been  given 
to  mankind.  When  ideas  are  received  by  influx  from  some 
other  intelligence,  there  must  necessarily  be  a blending  of 
the  operations  of  two  minds,  and  the  revelation  to  others 
must  be  the  result  of  their  mingled  action.  Some  times 
this  infusion  is  labored  and  difficult,  and  the  foreign  influ- 
ence is  only  perceptible  in  a slight  abnormal  quickening  of 
the  human  faculties.  Again,  the  ihoiigJd  is  directly  inspired, 
but  is  left  to  be  invested  by  the  mind  of  the  medium,  from 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATIOX. 


517 


which  it  takes  not  only  its  coloring-  and  clothing,  but  its 
specific  form.  Rarely  does  the  invisible  intelligence  exer- 
cise such  unlimited  psychological  control  over  the  subject  as 
to  admit  of  imbodying  the  thought  in  language  of  its  own 
selection.  As,  therefore,  the  language  of  Revelation  is? 
mainly,  of  earthly  origin,  or  human  dictation — only  the 
spirit,  or  truth,  it  contains  being  inspired— it  follows  that  a 
rigid  adherence  to  the  letter  is  not  only  unwise,  but  sub- 
versive, in  a high  degree,  of  its  legitimate  claims,  while 
it  is  most  emphatically  condemned  in  the  New  Testament.  / 

The  inspired  idea  may  be  heavenly  in  its  nature  and 
origin,  but,  to  reach  the  dull  ears  of  sensual  men,  it  must  be 
moulded  into  the  forms  of  human  thought,  and  find  utterance 
in  the  imperfect  speech  of  mortals.  The  divine  light  may 
be  ineffably  glorious,  but  even  the  rays  from  the  Spiritual 
Sun  are  often  obscured,  or  intercepted  by  dark  clouds,  and 
grotesque  shapes  come  near  and  mirror  themselves  in  the 
soul.  The  living  waters,  issuing  from  beneath  tlie  Eternal 
Throne,  are  clear  as  crystal,  but  they  flow  down  to  us 
through  earthly  channels,  and  this  contact  with  gross  ele- 
ments may  render  the  streams  impure.  Thus,  however  in- 
fallible the  immortal,  thought  may  be,  in  itself  considered, 
it  loses  that  exalted  character  when  an  erring  mortal  is  left 
to  interpret  the  divine  idea,  and  to  translate  it  into  the  im- 
perfect languages  of  this  world. 

In  the  intercourse  of  human  society,  all  thought  is  ex- 
pressed “ after  the  manner  of  men.’^  Hence,  though  Angels 
inspire  us,  our  thoughts  are  born  in  the  earth,  and  bear  the 
images  of  beings  like  ourselves  That  the  human  mind,  while 
in  the  body,  does  influence,  and,  in  a measure,  determine  the 


518 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


external  form  or  verbal  imbodiment  of  the  revelations  from 
the  other  life,  is  confirmed  by  numerous  examples.  When- 
ever the  imagination  predominates,  the  communications  are 
couched  in  metaphorical  language,  and  the  subject  is  invested 
with  poetic  imagery.  When  the  Rational  faculties  have  the 
ascendency,  the  inspired  thought  is  ultimated  in  a corres- 
ponding form,  and  is  clothed  in  words  that  have  a logical 
fitness  and  propriety.  In  some  instances  the  foreign  influ- 
ence conjoins  itself  to  the  faculty  of  Self-love,  and  finds  ex- 
pression in  the  most  extravagant  pretentions  and  offensive 
egotism  ; while  those  in  whom  the  religious  element  is  most 
conspicuous,  are  constantly  moved  to  acts  of  devotion. 

This  blending  of  the  elements  of  human  feeling  and  thought 
with  the  souhs  divinely  inspired  impressions,  is  forcibly  illus- 
trated in  all  the  revelations  of  the  olden  time.  Not  only 
were  the  ancient  Hebrews  subject  to  an  arbitrary  form  of 
government,  but  their  leaders  were  warlike  and  revengeful. 
This  spirit  characterized  the  revelations  of  that  period,  and 
hence  the  lex  talionis,  according  to  Moses,  was  the  law  of 
God.  In  the  government  of  an  ignorant  and  idolatrous 
people,  the  Jewish  lawgiver  was  called  to  act  chiefly  in  a 
legislative  and  executive  capacity.  Accordingly  the  inspira- 
tion of  Moses  assumed  a legal  form.  He  found  it  necessary 
to  awe  a superstitious  people  into  submission,  and  Sinai  was 
overshadowed  by  thick  clouds,  and  smitten  with  thunder- 
blasts.  With  these  awful  symbols  of  Jehovah’s  presence 
came  the  Law ! 

David  was  gifted  above  all  the  Hebrews  as  a poet  and 
musician.  He  was  a lover  of  Nature,  and  possessed  a lively 
appreciation  of  beauty  and  harmony.  The  silence  of  tlie 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


519 


mountain  and  grove ; tlic  sublimity  of  tlic  visible  heavens, 
and  the  glory  of  Zion,  inspired  his  soul  with  devout  medita- 
tion and  solemn  praise.  Through  him  the  spirit  of  Inspira- 
tion found  expression  in  Orphic  Hymns,  which,  to  this  day, 
constitute  a part  of  the  devotional  exercises  in  Jewish  and 
Christian  temples,  and  are  read  by  millions  in  all  the  lan- 
guages of  the  civilized  world. 

Isaiah  was  a remarkable  seer  or  spiritual  clairvoyant. 
He  was  actuated  by  pure  desires  ; and  existence,  in  his 
mind,  was  rendered  supremely  grand  and  beautiful,  by  the 
brilliant  hopes  and  lofty  aspirations  which  peopled  the  Fu- 
ture with  images  of  glory.  These  attributes  seem  to  have 
determined  the  character  of  his  revelations,  which  were  elo- 
quent prophecies  of  the  great  Spiritual  Era.  Above  and 
beyond  the  summits  of  the  distant  Ages,  dawned  the  light 
of  the  new  Day.  The  far  off  reign  of  righteousness  was 
present  to  the  vision  of  the  Prophet,  and  earth  was  trans- 
formed into  a scene  of  beauty  and  a “highway  of  holiness.^’ 

Jeremiah  was  amiable  in  his  disposition,  but  he  had  not 
the  cheerful  and  hopeful  spirit  of  Isaiah.  He  seems  to  have 
been  given  to  meditation,  and  inclined  to  melancholy.  Being 
highly  sympathetic  in  his  nature,  he  was  disposed  to  mourn 
over  the  misfortunes  of  his  countrymen,  and  on  this  account 
he  has  been  called  “ the  weeping  prophet.’’  His  case  illus- 
trates the  influence  of  cerebral  conditions  on  Revelation. 
The  inspiration  of  Jeremiah  resulted  in  the  Lamentations. 

/jesus  of  Nazareth,  whose  humble  life  and  death  were 
more  glorious  to  humanity  than  the  conquests  of  a thousand 
heroes,  was  preeminent  over  all  in  devotion  to  his  ideal  of 
the  celestial  life.  Amid  the  noise  of  passion,  and  the  jarring 


520 


MAN  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


discords  of  the  world,  his  soul  was  at  ],)eace.  A spirit 
quickened  by  divine  fire ; love  that  consumes  the  deepest 
resentment,  and  forgiveness  which  coexists  wdth  all  human 
wrong,  were  conspicuous  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  When  the 
world  was  faithless  and  disobedient,  he  stood  alone — sub- 
limely great — in  his  solemn  trust  and  his  immortal  fidelity. 
That  halcyon  peace  of  the  soul ; that  deathless  love  of  Hu- 
manity, and  Godlike  forgiveness  of  offenders,  w^ere  incarnate 
in  the  revelations  of  Jesus.  The  Divine  law,  as  disclosed  by 
the  great  Spiritual  Teacher,  was  the  law  of  Love.  Reve- 
lation thus  takes  the  form  of  Law,  Poetry  and  Ethics  ; and 
the  verbal  expression  of  the  inspired  thought  is  made  to 
/ depend,  in  a greater  or  less  degree,  on  various  idiosyncratic 
peculiarities,  and  the  general  perfection  of  earthly  media./ 
The  internal  evidence  of  the  Scriptures  does  not  support 
the  assumption  of  their  plenary  inspiration  and  infallible 
authority  ; nor  is  the  doctrine  compatible  with  the  dicta  of  a 
rational  philosophy.  A poor  mortal  may  not  hope  to  reveal 
divine  ideas  in  all  their  force  and  fullness.  Not  only  are 
all  earthly  languages  imperfect  vehicles  of  thought,  but  the 
finite  capacity  is  far  too  limited  to  either  comprehend  or 
transmit  the  boundless  conception. 

“ God  writes  bis  thoughts 
In  facts,  in  solid  orbs,  in  living  souls  ; 

His  revelation  is  the  concrete  world.” 

Should  one  propose  to  pour  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
through  an  inch  pipe ; or  undertake  to  exliaust  tlie  great 
atmospheric  sea  with  an  ordinary  air-pump,  we  might  not 
stop  to  discuss  the  very  distant  probabilities  of  his  success. 
In  fact  all  this  would  be  sane  and  sensible  compared  with 


PHILOSOPHY  OP  INSPIRATION. 


521 


the  vain  attempt  to  measure  and  define  the  Infinite  Under- 
standing by  the  small  rules  of  grammar  and  the  narrow 
limits  of  our  phrenological  development. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  popular  materialism  may  clothe 
itself  in  saintly  habiliments  and  claim  the  chief  seats  in  the 
synagogues.  It  has  been  known  to  put  on  the  robes  of  the 
priesthood,  and  to  declare  from  the  altar  that  men  are  no 
longer  inspired,  as  if  the  relations  of  the  Soul  to  Truth  and 
to  God  liad  been  fundamentally  and  eternally  changed.  The 
era  of  revelation  and  miracle  is  supposed  to  have  closed 
forever  sometime  before  the  ancient  glory  was  obscured  by 
the  Dark  Ages.  ^ Thus  it  is  virtually  assumed  that  Divine 
inspiration  ceased  to  exist — died  long  since  and  was  buried 
— that  it  has  not  yet  risen  from  the  dead.  Devout  men  still 
praise  the  fashion  of  its  ancient  wardrobe  and  labor  to  gar- 
nish its  sepulcher,  while  its  deathless  spirit  stands  unrecog- 
nized in  their  midst.  This  theological  materialism  contends 
for  the  supreme  authority  of  the  letter  (“  the  letter  killeth,’’) 
while  it  is  prone  to  set  up  a Book  against  the  present  actual 
experience  of  mankind.  If  it  be  proved  to  the  satisfaction 
of  half  the  world  that  some  men  are  truly  inspired  now^  we 
must  not  believe  it  so  long  as  we  can  find  a single  Hebrew 
or  Greek  manuscript — made  supremely  sacred  by  traditional 
authority  and  the  votes  of  ecclesiastical  councils— which 
even  vaguely  implies  that  Inspiration  is  not  a living  and 
perpetual  reality. 

But  to  the  Christian  philosopher  it  is  a fact  of  some  con- 
sequence that  God  made  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  understand- 
ing, and  that  all  the  faculties  are  still  instruments  of  Divine 
Wisdom  and  use,  whereby  we  receive  knowledge  of  the  sur- 


5*22 


MAN  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


rounding  creation.  Tlie  rational  man  cannot  regard  these 
as  instruments  of  deception,  or  cunning  devices  to  lead  the 
soul  astray.  Tlirough  these  powers  he  may  yet  be  able  to 
discover  that  the  Divine  Life  outflows  through  all  the  king- 
doms of  Nature  and  inflov/s  through  all  the  avenues  of  the 
Soul.  Nevertheless,  it  is  said  to  be  irreligious  and  profane 
to  attempt  to  walk  in  the  dim,  uncertain -light  of  Nature, 
Reason  and  Intuition,  as  though  Nature  were  a diabolical 
institution  : Reason  an  unholy  thing  to  be  despised  and  ex- 
ecrated, and  Intuition  a dream  of  insanity.  And  are  we  to 
regard  the  highest  conceptions  and  the  deepest  convictions — 
founded  on  the  soul-experiences  of  Humanity  during  a period 
of  nearly  two  thousand  years—  as  idle  phantasies  or  dis- 
tempered dreams,  while  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  so  much  as 
question  the  mere  record  of  the  inspiration  of  other  men 
and  other  times  ? Those  who  only  worship  the  God  of  his- 
tory are  as  irreverent  as  they  are  unwise.  Indeed,  they  are 
positively  atheistical,  their  recognition  of  the  Divine  Pre- 
sence being  rather  in  form  than  in  fact.  There  are  pious 
enthusiasts  who  do  not  think  it  very  wrong  to  violate  such 
of  God’s  laws  as  are  not  literally  comprehended  in  the  Ten 
Commandments.  It  is  thus  plainly  implied  that  Deity  is 
not  immanent  in  those  laws  and  the  forms  tliey  govern — in 
Nature,  the  orderly  succession  of  events,  and  in  Man.  This 
is  the  theological  form  of  practical  Atheism.  Men  who  vir- 
tually assume  that  the  Divine  Spirit — in  the  most  essential 
sense — is  withdrawn  from  the  present  sphere  of  human 
thought  and  action,  manifestly  .do  not  recognize  the  Omni- 
present One.  Such  a faith  is  little  better  than  the  scientific 
materialism  that  is  trying  to  find  God  in  galvanism,  and  all 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


523 


tlie  |)o\vers  of  tlionglit  and  feeling  in  the  phosphorescence 
of  the  human  brain. ' 

We  have  no  fellowship  witli  the  materialism  that  overlooks 
a grand  reality  in  its  impetuous  pursuit  of  its  earthly  forms 
and  sliadows.  Sacred  books,  creeds  and  rituals,  arc  but  aids 
to  our  moral  culture  and  spiritual  development.  They  may 
prove  to  be  great  lights,  but  should  never  be  accepted  as  ab- 
solute authorities.  Reason,  conscience,  and  every  noble 
faculty  must  be  free.  The  writer  is  neither  disposed  to  un- 
dervalue books,  nor  willing  to  dispense  with  any  of  the  in- 
strumentalities whereby  the  thoughts  of  inspired  minds  are 
embalmed.  It  is  a pious  care  that  preserves  them  all.  But' 
we  must  not  permit  the  Church  to  be  mistaken  for  a fossil 
museum,  nor  for  tlie  grave-yard  of  our  natural  faculties  and 
rational  liopes,  while  it  should  be  a garden  of  fresh  flowers  ; 
a nursery  of  living  ideas,  and  the  common  residence  of  ally^ 
the  graces.  In  proportion  as  we  become  divinely  strong^ 
in  spirit  and  beautiful  in  life,  we  reverently  listen  to  thev- 
sublime  disclosures  of  a living  Inspiration.  Moreover,  we , 
are  made  to  comprehend  the  fact  that  we  have  no  inspira- 
tion at  all  unless  we  ourselves  are  inspired.  All  verbal  au- 
thorities and  stereotyped  instructions  gradually  give  place 
to  the  realization  of  a more  exalted  communion.  This  ap- 
pears to  be  a law  of  general  application.  The  student  of 
Nature  leaves  his  class-books  and  abandons  his  mortal  guides 
wlien  he  is  able  to  go  alone  to  her  sublime  oracles.  In  lik 
manner  Paul  left  his  old  “ schoolmaster,’’  “ the  law,”  when 
he  went  to  Christ,  whose  superior  inspiration  rendered  mea- 
surably obsolete  the  ancient  autliority  of  Moses.  In  like  man- 
ner, as  other  minds,  in  the  course  of  their  development  — 

33 


524 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS.. 


whctlier  in  tins  life  or  that  which  is  to  come — are  enabled 
to  draw  spiritual  instruction  from  fountains  that  were  opened 
to  the  early  Seers,  Prophets,  and  Apostles,  the  mere  records 
of  their  experience  will  cease  to  be  of  vital  interest,  save  as 
integral  portions  of  man’s  religious  history. 

. In  this  world  Man  is  the  great  essential  fact,  whilst  all 

I ideal  conceptions  of  the  Infinite,  all  revelations  of  the  Beau- 
tiful, all  systems  of  theology,  every  form  of  worship,  all 
phases  of  thought  and  modes  of  action,  are  but  phenomena 
of  his  existence.  In  all  ages  some  men  have  been  inspired  ; 
but  inspiration  is  the  special  possession  of  those  periods 
which  are  characterized  by  outward  simplicity  and  inward 
growth.  In  the  natural  degree  of  our  being  it  is -essential 
•to  life.  As  the  individual  must  necessarily  hreathe  for  him- 
self, so,  also,  the  higlier  form  of  inspiration — the  silent  infu- 
sion of  the  elements  of  thought  into  the  passive  mind — must 
be  a personal  experience  or  it  has  no  vital  existence.  More- 
^over,  the  thirsty  soul  can  not  be  satisfied  with  mere  descrip- 
tions of  living  waters  ; it  must  go  to  the  river  wliose  banks 
I are  clothed  witli  immortal  verdure.  The  new  disciple — in 
the  fervor  of  his  first  love — will  not  be  dismissed  with  a free 
ticket  to  Jacob’s  well ; much  less  will  he  be  satisfied  with  a 
few  bottles  of  water  that  have  been  standing  since  the  days 
of  the  Pharaohs.  The  Hebrew  label  and  Mosaic  indorse- 
ment will  bo  insufficient  to  commend  the  same  to  his  accept- 
ance, so  long  as  the  living  fountain  is  open  before  him.  A 
common  theological  reservoir  is  useless  to  the  man  who  finds 
the  “River  of  Life”  at  his  own  door.  It  is  Ids  privilege 
to  realize  tlie  trutli  of  the  promise  : — “ II  shall  he  in  you  a 
well  of  ivuter  sfrinejhvj  ujo  into  everlasting  lifeP 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  INSPIRATION. 


525 


The  soul  redeemed  from  ignorance  and  the  dominion  of 
flesldy  lusts,  is  above  all  books,  and  owes  no  allegiance  to 
mortal  masters.  I^heeds  the  injunction  to  “ call  no  man 
Kabbi.”  God  is  immanent  and  manifest  in  such  a man,  as 
ho  does  not  exist  in  ancient  parchments  and  human  institu- 
tions. For  this  reason,  the  instincts  of  the  Soul  are  not  to 
be  held  in  subordination  to  the  letter  of  Revelation.  To 
presume  that  Man  is  a mere  circumstance,  as  compared  with 
the  Scriptures,  the  Church  and  the  Sabbath,  is  a very  grave 
mistake.  On  the  contrary,  “ the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man 
so,  also,  were  the  Church,  the  Bible  and  all  other  books.  All 
teachers,  whether  of  Science,  Art,  or  Religion,'together  with 
all  the  means  and  modes  of  instruction,  including  the  ritual 
and  the  priesthood,  are  only  important  to  the  individual  and 
the  Race  so  far  as  they  develop  the  spirit  in  man  and  thus 
promote  the  chief  interests  of  human  society.  Since  Inspi- 
ration belongs  to  the  living,  we  may  conclude  that  God 
SPEAKS  TO  THE  WORLD  NOW.  His  word  is  freely  expressed  in 
the  existing  life  of  all  things  ; in  the  ways  of  his  universal 
providence  ; in  the  examples  of  moral  heroism  ; in  great 
thoughts  that  move  the  Ages  ] in  the  mortal  paralysis  of  old 
despotisms  and  the  broken  symbols  of  arbitrary  power;  in 
the  emancipation  of  serfs  and  slaves  ; in  science,  art,  and  his- 
tory ; in  the  ministrations  of  Angels ; in  the  solemn  rever- 
ence and  silent  aspirations  of  devout  men  : in  the  pure  sym- 
pathies and  gentle  affections  of  woman  ; in  the  spontaneous 
happiness  of  childhood  ; and  everywhere  in  the  sweet  repose 
and  spiritual  beauty  of  the  humblest  life.\ 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 

Natural  Religion— Universality  of  the  Sentiment — Illustrations  from  the 
ioftrior  Kingdoms  of  Nature— Perversions  of  the  Religious  Principle — 
Historical  Examples— True  Religion  and  a Spiritual  Worship  defined — 
Pagan  Ideas  among  Christians — Incompatibility  of  the  Outward  Form 
and  Inward  Communion — The  uses  of  Religious  Symbols — How  they 
assume  the  place  of  Essential  Principles — Substituting  the.  Shadow  for 
the  Substance — Religious  influence  of  Natural  Scenes  and  Objects — In- 
consistencies of  the  Religious  World — Grace  and  Trinity  Churches— The 
Church  of  the  Future  -The  true  Christian  Idea  of  Devotion  The  Tem- 
ple of  Toil  and  the  Worshipers. 

IT  is  neither  the  office  of  Revelation  nor  the  proper  object 
of  the  Church  to  make  man  a religious  being.  The  es- 
sential element  whereby  he  is  brought  into  conscious  fellow- 
ship with  divine  realities  belongs  to  'his  constitution.  His 
religious  faculties  and  capacities  are  integral  in  his  nature, 
and  do  not  necessarily  depend  on  a system  or  institution  for 
their  manifestations.  /There  is  a principle  in  Man  that 
prompts  him  to  reverence  some  Higher  Power.1  Wherever 
man  is  found  are  also  found  the  symbols  of  his  faith  and  the 
altars  of  his  worship.  However  limited  his  mental  vision 
and  his  moral  growth,  he  i:as  some  idea  of  a Supreme  Intel- 
ligence. The  rude  amd  uncivilized  worshiper  will  not,  of 
course,  entertain  elevated  and  comprehensive  views  of  the 
Divine  existence  and  perfections.  His  ideas  and  the  rites 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


527 


of  his  religion  will  be  material  and  repulsive  to  more  refined 
beings  in  proportion  as  the  Divine  attributes  are  latent  in 
man,  and  the  plain  of  his  outward  life  is  low  and  sensuous. 
Still  Revelation,  Inspiration  and  Worship  are  not  confined 
to  Christendom.  The  Divine  Law  is  written  in  the  heart. 
Even  the  light  of  Nature,  if  faithfully  improved,  would  be 
sufficient  to  prevent  those  flagrant  abuses  of  the  religious^ 
principle  which  mark  the  footsteps  and  disfigure  the  history 
of  Man  in  almost  every  age.  The  creature  is  never  left  in 
total  darkness.  Some  rays  of  divine  light  penetrate  the 
vail  that  is  spread  over  the  most  benighted  nations.  The 
Pagan  sees  around  and  above  him  glimmerings  of  the  uni- 
versal Spirit;  the  oracles  of  Nature  are  the  voices  of  the 
Infinite  ; and  the  poor  savage 

“ Sees  God  in  clouds,  and  hears  him  in  the  wind.” 

But  while  the  spring  of  all  devout  emotions  and  religious 
ideas  is  in  Man,  and  flows  out  from  him  as  naturally  as  runs 
the  current  of  his  life,  it  is  not  less  apparent  that  foreign 
agents  and  external  circumstances  often  determine  the  direc- 
tion of  the  stream.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  exercise  of  the[ 
faculty  and  the  right  direction  of  the  religious  sentiment,  | 
diffuse  beauty  and  fertility  along  every  walk  of  life,  and 
make  the  summer  of  our  being  glorious,  and  the  autumn  of ) 
existence  fruitful  in  great  thoughts  and  illustrious  deeds. ‘ 
On  the  other  hand,  its  perversions  have  spread  ruin,  like  a'' 
mantle,  over  the  fairest  scenes  on  earth,  making  homes  deso- 
late, and  turning  splendid  temples  into  prisons  and  sepul- 
cliers,  where  noble  minds  are  kept  in  chains  of  darkness, 
trembling  hearts  crushed  into  dishonored  graves,  and  where 
the  highest  hopes  and  purest  joys  are  buried  and  forgotten. 


528 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Worship,  considered  as  an  essential  law  of  a divinely- 
constituted  system,  or  regarded  as  an  integral  principle  and 
a natural  function  of  that  constitution,  exists  universally 
and  may  be  everywhere  recognized.  The  law  is  plainly 
discernible  in  the  lower  kingdoms  of  Nature.  The  gross 
elements  of  the  material  world,  by  the  refining  processes  of 
organic  chemistry,  and  the  natural  modes  of  etherealization, 
seek  after  God.  The  more  subtile  portions  of  all  physical 
forms,  from  the  smallest  atom  to  the  largest  orb,  are  exhaled  ; 
the  sublimated  elements  rise  from  their  organic  restraints 
like  the  incense  of  flowers  ; like  the  waters  that  answer  the 
invitations  of  the  sun,  and  ascend  into  the  atmospheric 
heavens  ; and  like  the  aspirations  of  living  souls.  All 
Nature  is  a perfumed  censer,  swayed  by  the  Divine  hand  in 
the  midst  of  his  sun-lighted  temple.  The  smallest  plant 
seeks  the  light  as  naturally  and  perseveringly  as  the  most 
devoted  saint  reaches  heavenward  in  his  seasons  of  devout 
aspiration  The  numberless  germs  that  are  buried  in  the 
earth  never  grow  downward  to  the  center  ; but  they  all 
sprout  upward  to  the  surface— to  ward -the  ethereal  regions. 
It  is  a well  known  fact  that  when  plants  are  kept  in  dark 
rooms,  and  light  is  admitted  at  a single  point,  they  all  grow 
in  that  precise  direction.  Thus,  even  the  meanest  shrub,  if 
surrounded  by  darkness,  prays — according  to  the  organic 
law  of  its  nature — for  “ light,  more  light  In  like  manner, 
if  a vessel  of  water  be  placed  near  a vine  in  a dry  season, 
the  general  tendency  and  particular  direction  of  the  vine 
will  be  changed  ; or,  if  it  be  planted  on  the  bank  of  a stream, 
it  will  pursue  a direct  route  to  the  water.  Thus  the  organ- 
ized forms  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  seek  sucli  natural  ele- 


RATIONALE  OP  WORSHIP. 


52<i 


ments  as  are  indispensable  to  tlieir  growth  and  life.'  The 
vine  goes  to  the  water  as  naturally  as  the  ‘hart  panteth  after 
the  running  brooks/  and  as  truly  as  the  rational  soul  thirsts 
for  the  elements  of  Truth,  of  which  water  is  an  appropriate 
and  expressive  symbol.  Thus  all  material  elements  and  the 
lowest  organic  forms  perpetually  aspire  to  the  higher  plains 
and  superior  functions  of  being.  By  their  subserviency  to* 
beneficient  uses,  and  their  subordination  to  the  principles 
of  natural  harmony,  they  utter  constant  praise. 

The  present  analysis  and  definition  of  Worship  involve 
no  such  metaphysical  subtilties  as  require  sharp  lines  and 
delicate  distinctions.  It  may  suffice  that  the  most  essential 
constituents  of  Worship — so  far  as  the  subject  relates  to. 


Man — are  love,  gratitude,  reverence  and  aspiration.  Whe-/ 
ther  we  regard  these  as  elemental  principles  in  the  nature 
of  true  worship  ; or  as  the  soul’s  spiritual  exercises,  and  in- 
dispensable to  our  own  inward  growth,  tliey  sliould  be  regu- 
lated in  their  modes  of  expression,  by  intelligence  and  the 
orderly  exercise  of  reason.  Without  such  illumination  and 
direction,  tliey  are  liable  to  lead  the  mind  astray  ; at  the 
same  time  they  darken  the  sphere  of  our  outward  life  and 
relations,  and  otherwise  degrade  the  worsliipei*.  Ignorance 
and  superstition  have  fashioned  innumerable  gods  out  of  the 
subjective  darkness,  and  then  left  their  blinded  devotees  to 

^ Hoare,  in  his  treatise  on  the  vine,  mentions  a striking  illustration  of 
some’hing  in  plants  resembling  tlm  instinct  of  animals.  A bone  was  placed 
in  the  strong  but  dry  clay  of  a vine-border.  The  vine  sent  out  a leading 
or  tap  root,  directly  through  the  clay  to  the  bone.  In  its  passage  the  prin- 
ciple root  put  out  no  fibres  in  the  clay  5 but  on  reaching  the  object  of  pur- 
suit it  put  forth  its  minute  tendrils  in  such  numbers  as  entirely  to  cover  the 
bone  with  its  delicate  tracery,  in  the  net-work  of  which  every  thread  pene- 
trated some  pore  of  the  bone. 


530 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


stupidly  worship  those  idols  instead  of  the  Universal  Fathei-. 
Wherever  the  religious  sentiment  has  been  perverted  in  the 
mind  and  heart,  or  misdirected  in  its  modes  of  manifestation, 
it  has  fostered  the  vilest  passions,  peopled  tlie  imagination 
' with  horrid  phantoms,  shut  out  the  light  of  reason  and  ob- 
scured the  moral  vision.  Viewed  in  this  aspect.  Religion  is 
made  to  assume  the  character  and  office  of  a destroying 
angel.  It  lights  the  consumers’  brand  in  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  kindles  unholy  fires  on  innumerable  altars.  Aggressive 
War  tempers  his  sword  in  that  flame,  and  with  his  merciless 
arm  hews  out  a way  for  Religion  to  advance  ; whilst  hell — 
the  hell  whose  atmosphere  is  gross  darkness,  and  whose 
ministers  are  foul  superstitions  and  perverted  passions — 
follows  the  bloody  trail,  and  with  its  fearful,  lights,  deep 
shadows  and  startling  colors,  completes  the  mournful  picture 
of  misdirection  and  depravity. 

/If  one  has  room  but  for  a single  idea,  and  that  is  to  be 
allowed  to  engross  all  his  faculties  and  his  whole  time,  he  can 
scarcely  adopt  one  that  is  frauglit  with  greater  sacrifice  to 
society  than  the  religious  idea.  The  world  has  already  wit- 
nessed many  melancholy  illustrations  of  this  truth.  Think 
of  the  austere  manners,  the  unnatural  restraints,  the  severe 
modes  of  discipline,  painful  rites  and  gloomy  abstractions, 
which  have  formed  the  religion  of  so  many  men.  The  no- 
tion that  the  body  must  be  literally  crucified,  and  the  intel- 
lect dwarfed  for  all  time,  that  the  religious  element  in  human 
nature  may  have  unlimited  ])ower,  is  absurd  and  dangerous 
to  the  last  degree.  It  impairs  all  the  functions  of  the  body, 
n.ud  renders  health  and  life  insecure.  It  dissipates  and  de- 
'•anges  the  vital  forces,  producing  pliysical  debility,  ])aralysis, 


RATIONALE  OP  WORSHIP. 


531 


coni^cstiou,  mclanclioly,  insanity,  and  death  ; and  tlicsc  evils 
are  transmitted  to  succeeding  generations.  The  vital  ele- 
ments, the  prevailing  philosophies,  and  the  practical  life  of 
the  world,  have  all  been  poisoned  by  pious  madmen.  Not 
a few  have  withdrawn  from  civilized  society,  and  spent  their 
lives  in  caves  and  mountains,  away  from  the  responsibilities 
and  the  evils  they  had  not  the  manhood  to  meet.  The  asce- 
ticism that  prevailed  in  the  early  church,  and  the  corporeal 
inflictions  that  men  in  different  ages  have  voluntarily  suffered, 
witness  to  us  how  sadly  the  noblest  powers  and  privileges 
may  be  perverted.  Thousands  shut  themselves  up  in  lonely 
cells  and  gloomy  caverns,  away  from  the  clear  light  and 
pure  air.  Old  Roger  Bacon  lived  two  years  in  a hole  under 
a churcli  wall,  and  at  last  dug  his  own  grave' with  his  finger- 
nails ; and  all  that  he  might  escape  from  the  world  and 
show  his  supreme  contempt  of  physical  suffering.  Others 
have  been  wild  enthusiasts,  who  made  religion  to  consist  in 
an  unhealthy  and  feverish  excitement.  But  we  may  as  well 
expect  organic  perfection  and  physical  vigor  from  an  occa- 
sional fit  of  the  ague,  as  to  depend  on  a periodical  spasm  of 
the  emotional  nature  to  translate  the  world,  or  to  bring  the 
New  Jerusalem  down  to  us.  Heaven  is  not  found  in  the 
fever  and  frenzy  that  burn  in  the  brain  and  madden  the 
soul ; nor  is  salvation  made  secure  to  those  who  are  only 

•'  Chilled  by  a cold  abnormal  piety.” 

There  is  no  end  to  the  follies  and  cruelties  which  ignorant 
men  have  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  Religion.  Not  only 
have  they  violated  the  most  essential  laws  of  health  and  life, 
in  themselves,  but  they  have  everywhere  resisted  Science, 


532 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


! 


Stop  by  stop  ; they  have  anathematized  the  greatest  teachers 
and  benefactors  of  mankind  ; they  have  fostered  tlie  foulest 
superstitions  and  upheld  the  despotisms  of  the  world  ; they 
have  spurned  all  Nature  as  an  unholy  thing,  and  made  mer- 
chandize of  our  hopes  of  Heaven.  With  such  men  faith 
sustains  no  relation  to  science,  but  it  is  very  closely  allied 
to  superstition  ; and  the  zeal  that  exhausts  the  worshiper 
with  its  extreme  fervor  is  “ not  according  to  knowledge.’^ 
These  things  have  all  been  done  under  the  pretense  of  serv- 
ing the  Lord  and  saving  the  people.  They  indicate  that 
among  the  constituents  of  our  nature  the  Religious  Element 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  dangerous  when  not  wisely  directed  ; 
and  that  it  is  alike  destructive  of  physical  health,  temporal 
prosperity,  and  true  morality.  It  is  a morbid  alienation  of 
Reason,  with  a sickly  disgust  of  life  and  all  temporal  inter- 
ests, that  leads  to  these  extremes.  Neither  Nature  nor  tlie 
Divine  Wisdom  can  furnish  the  im^entives  to  action  when 
men  thus  disregard  their  relations  to  this  world,  and  treat 
the  gifts  of  God  with  pious  scorn. 

The  spirit  of  the  opposition  to  Nature  and  Science,  wliich 
characterized  tiie  blind  religionists  of  past  ages,  finds  an 
amusing  illustration  in  the  conduct  of  Pope  Callextus. 
About  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  wiien  tlie  Turkisli 
arms  had  just  reduced  the  great  empire,  the  comet  of  145() 
made  its  appearance,  and  by  its  long  train  spread  consterna- 
tion through  all  Europe.  It  was  supposed  that  it  might 
have  some  mysterious  connection  with  the  Turks  ; and  the 
idea  widely  prevailed  that  comets  were  ominous  of  war,  pes- 
tilence, famine  and  other  great  disasters.  The  occasion 
seemed  to  call  on  the  Pope  for  som.e  signal  demonstration 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


533 


of  his  power  and  devotion  Accordingly,  a spccia!  religious 
service  was  decreed,  in  which  he  formally  anathematized  the 
Turks  and  the  comet.  Since  that  event  we  have  repeatedly 
heard  of  the  Turks,  but  the  comet  is  supposed  to  keep  at  a 
jirudent  distance  from  the  seat  of  papal  authority. 

/That  we  can  not  safely  depend  on  this  principle  alone — 
the  religious  element  in  human  nature — to  regulate  the  con- 
duct of  men,  must  be  obvious  to  all  persons  who  have  looked 
into  the  religious  history  of  the  world.  Wherever  the  rea- 
soning faculties  have  not  been  developed  by  suitable  mental 
culture  and  discipline,  the  religious  sentiment  has  usually 
cooperated  with  the  baser  passions  and  become  the  scourge 
of  mankind.  The  practice  of  sacrificing  human  beings  to 
propitiate  the  favor  of  the  gods,  originated  in  this  union  of 
the  religious  principle  with  the  baser  propensities.  ‘ The 
history  of  many  nations  is  deeply  stained  with  the  evidence 
on  this  point.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Romans,  for  a long 
time,  to  sacrifice  many  of  their  prisoners  of  war.  Ctesar 
offered  three  hundred  men  on  the  Ides  of  March.  The 
Gauls  also  reared  their  altars  for  human  sacrifices,  and  amid 
the  gloom  of  the  old  forests  the  Druidical  priesthood  per- 
formed the  bloody  rite.  To  turn  the  tide  of  victory  in  their 
favor  the  Carthagenians,  after  being  defeated  in  battle, 
seized  two  hundred  children  of  the  wealthiest  families  and 
put  them  to  death.  At  the  consecration  of  the  great  temple 
of  Mexico,  it  is  recorded  that  the  reigning  king  sacrificed 
more  than  sixty  thousand  prisoners , and  the  royal  Monte- 
zuma, though  surrounded  by  many  of  the  arts  of  refined  life, 
was  accustomed  to  make  an  annual  offering  of  twenty  thou- 
sand men  to  the  sun.  Nor  are  these  cruelties  all  distant  in 


ri 


l C J Z-- 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


Of)‘± 

respect  to  time.  The  wail  of  expiring  Humanity  comes  up 
from  tlie  islands  of  the  South  Sea  and  Pacific  Ocean  ; it 
rises  from  the  burning  sands  of  Central  Africa,  from  the 
temple  of  India’s  great  idol,  and  from  beneath  the  wlieels 
of  his  ponderous  car.  We  might  summon  a cloud  of  wit- 
nesses that  no  man  could  number,  whose  experience  illus- 
trates the  dangerous  tendencies  of  the  Religious  Sentiment, 
when  not  directed  by  Reason.  We  might  invoke  the  shades 
of  thirty  thousand  widows,  who  annually  expired  on  the 
funeral  pyre ; call  up  the  infant  spirits  from  the  Ganges,  and 
the  tender  babes  that  perislied  in  the  burning  arms  of  the 
Phoenician  Moloch.  The  witnesses  come  by  thousands — 
bloody  and  mutilated — from  the  dungeons  and  racks  of  the 
Inquisition  ; from  the  tragic  scenes  of  St.  Bartholomew’s 
Day  ; and  from  all  the  battle-fields  of  the  Crusaders,  to  ad- 
monish us  that  mental  culture  and  the  exercise  of  an  enlight- 
ened reason,  as  well  as  a fervent  spirit  of  devotion,  are 
necessary  to  save  the  world. 

But  the  human  soul  is  the  chosen  temple  in  which  the 
Great  Spirit  has  left  the  image  of  a divine  personality.  It 
is  by  no  means  the  proper  office  of  Religion  to  pollute  the 
sanctuary  thus  consecrated  by  the  indwelling  presence  of 
Deity.  If  every  human  being  combines — in  a miniature 
form  and  finite  degree — the  elements  of  the  Natural  World 
and  the  attributes  of  the  Divine  Mind — is  a representative 
of  the  universe  without  and  the  universe  within — it  will 
appear  that  every  man  with  disordered  faculties,  inverted 
affections  and  perverted  passions — is,  in  a qualified  sense,  a 
world  in  a state  of  cliaos  or  ruin.  Moreover,  this  disor- 
derly empire  requires  tlie  calm  and  orderly  exercise  of 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


535 


Reason  and  every  godlike  faculty  to  harmonize  its  elements. 

In  this  work  the  religious  sentiment,  when  properly  illu- 
minated and  directed,  exerts  a beneficient  influence  and  a 
redeeming  power.  Crowned  with  its  superior  glory  Hu- 
manity presents  such  a spectacle  as  Angels  may  contemplate 
witli  admiration  and  delight.  The  harmonic  play  of  divine 
affections  fills  this  dwelling-place  of  the  Infinite  with  ‘‘  psalms 
and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,’’  all  silent  and  voiceless,  I ^ 
know,  to  the  mere  sensuous  worshiper,  yet  to  the  awakened 
spirit  distinctly  audible.  When  the  soul  is  thus  quickened 
by  a living  inspiration,  and  is  qualified  to  worship  in  spirit, 
the  solemn  and  joyful  harmonies  of  the  higher  life  naturally 
flow  down  into  it,  and  echo  through  the  mystical  aisles  and 
beneatli  the  illuminated  dome  of  this  temple.  Angelic 
ministers  frequent  its  courts  ; they  kindle  sacred  fires  on  its 
altars  ; they  look  from  heaven  into  its  windows  ; or  descend 
to  unbar  its  portals  that  new  hopes,  living  ideas,  immortal 
joys,  and  divine  ecstacies  may  enter  in  and  dwell  there. 

If  men  worship  an  omniscient  Being  who  discerns  the  inmost 
secrets  of  the  mind  and  heart,  the  outward  exhibition  of  their 
spiritual  moods  and  modes  can  never  be  essential  to  true 
worship.  These  do  not  establish  the  soul’s  conscious  connec- 
tion with  the  Divine.  That  must  preexist,  or  the  outward 
service  is  a false  pretense,  rendered  the  more  hollow  and  hypo- 
critical by  the  feigned  solemnity  that  is  made  to  characterize 
the  performance.  The  spiritual  idea  of  worship  is  supremely 
beautiful  and  immeasurably  exalted  above  all  others  in  the 
intrinsic  purity  and  dignity  of  the  conception.  To  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  heavens,  is  virtually  to  enter  the  angelic 
abodes  j to  be  in  conscious  communion  with  the  divine,  is 


536 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


to  realize  the  Infinite  Prc-senc'e.  In  this  state,  prayer  and 
praise  are  something  more  than  rhetorical  exercises.  More- 
over, they  are  unceasing ; the  aspirations  of  the  worsliiper 
and  the  incense  of  gratitude  perpetually  ascend  from  the 
altar  of  the  mind  and  heart.  Thus,  true  religion,  viewed 
7 subjectively,  may  be  briefly  denned  to  be  the  harmonic  ac- 
\ rion  of  all  the  human  faculties  and  affections  ; and  Worship 
may  be  regarded  as  the  soul’s  natural  gravitation  toward 
God  and  the  sphere  of  divine  activities. 

It  can  not  be  said  in  truth  that  the  author  undervalues 
Keligion,  or  that  he  is  opposed  to  true  worship.  Indeed, 
the  practice  of  any  form — not  attended  with  barbarous  rites 
— that  the  individual  worshiper  may  deem  to  bo  most  con- 
ducive to  his  growth,  in  all  tlie  faculties  and  graces  of  a 
perfect  manhood,  should  be  approved.  So  far  as  religious 
symbols  and  ceremonies  are  aids  to  a clearer  perception  of 
truth,  and  incentives  to  a life  of  practical  goodness,  the  use 
of  them  deserves  to  be  encouraged.  At  best,  however,  they 
are  but  the  shadows  of  substantial  things.  If  anyone  is 
qualified  to  appropriate  and  enjoy  the  divine  substance,  he, 
surely,  need  not  keep  on  grasping  at  the  earthly  shadow, 
like  one  who  clutches  the  air  and  embraces  nothing.  At 
least  it  is  our  privilege  to  contemplate  the  better  time, 

‘ All  mirrored  in  the  far  off  luture  years, 

When  men  will  cast  their  idol  creeds  to  dust, 

And  know  the  Evangel  in  its  very  heart, 

Regardless  of  the  form 

The  poet  may  not  worship  according  to  the  ritual,  and  the 
philosopher  may  question  the  propriety  of  advertising  his 
prayers,  by  a formal  proclamation,  either  in  the  papers  or 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


537 


the  synagogues.  But  tlie  vulgar  inference  that  such  men  are 
irreligious  is  a grave  mistake.  They  may  be  devout  in  a 
degree  tliat  transcends  all  familiar  modes  of  expression. 
The  philosopher  has  a clearer  perception  and  a broader 
charity,  and  he  will  observe  a decent  respect  for  every  sin- 
cere worshiper.  ’ The  man  who  is  morally  upright  and  re- 

f 

ligiously  conscientious  in  his  observance  of  tlie  prevailing 
forms  of  faith  and  worship — however  unenlightened  and 
erroneous  those  forms  may  be — is  entitled  to  more  confidence 
and  respect  than  those  avIio  hold  the  most  enlighiened  views 
in  adulterous  fellowship  with  a life  of  practical  infidelity. 
Even  the  Pagan,  who  has  acquired  no  knowledge  of  the  Law, 
when  by  nature  he  performs  the  things  which  the  law  re- 
quii*es,  is  accounted  a better  subject  of  the  Divine  adminis- 
tration, than  the  man  who  has  a clear,  intellectual  compre- 
hension of  its  moral  claims  and  bearings,  while  he  disre- 
gards its  chief  requirements  and  crucifies  its  essential  spirit. 

/iBut  while  we  respect  the  sincere  formal  worshiper  for 
his  fidelity  to  his  convictions,  we  are  at  liberty  to  remember 
tha.t  the  thoughts  of  some  men  are  larger  than  the  parts  of 
speech,  and  that  the  deepest  emotions  may  transcend  the 
compass  of  language.  ' We  have  heard  great  souls  defamed 
because  the^^  rejected  the  stereotyped  form  and  only  wor- 
shiped in  spirit.  And  yet  the  prevailing  formalism  can  not 
be  essential  to  true  worship,  if  we  may  give  the  term  a 
Christian  definition.  The  common  exercise  of  prayer  seems 
to  have  originated  from  two  causes  : first,  a consciousness  in 
the  mind  of  the  petitioner  of  some  unsatisfied  demand  of  his 
nature  ; and,  secondly,  from  faith  in  the  existence  of  a higher 
Power  which  was  pi’esumed  to  be  able  to  supply  tliat  de- 


538 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


maiid.  The  fancied  necessity  for  praying  aloud  doubtless 
had  its  origin  in  the  heathen  notion  that  the  being  addressed 
is  organized  like  a man  ; and  that  the  worshiper  must  reach 
his  understanding  through  the  sense  of  hearing.  The  wliole 
conception  is  altogether  external  and  extremely  sensuous. 
Yet  nevertheless,  some  professed  Christian  worshipers  pra} 
with  as  much  vehemence  as  did  the  four  hundred  and  fifty 
prophets  of  Baal  ; and,  possibly,  for  the  same  reason — be- 
cause they  imagine  that  their  Lord  may  be  at  a distance,  or 
otherwise  occupied,  and  that  an  unusual  effort  may  be  re- 
quired to  secure  his  attention.^  If  they  do  not  entertain 
Pagan  ideas,  why  do  they  imitate  the  example  of  the  heathen, 
who  “ think  that  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much  speak- 
ing.’’  Incessant  importunities  are  surely  not  always  nor 
generally  tlie  strongest  indications  of  profound  reverence 
for  the  power  we  recognize.  This  becomes  the  more  appa- 
rent in  the  light  of  a Christian  philosophy,  and  the  observa- 
tion derives  additional  emphasis  from  the  explicit  testimony 
of  Jesus— “ The  Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need 
of  before  ye  ask  him.’’ 

Moreover,  as  all  mundane  languages  belong  to  the  external 
plain  of  the  human  intellect,  it  follows  tliat  the  soul  is  na- 
turally and  necessarily  withdrawn  from  the  interior  state  of 
|Communion,  in  and  by  the  very  act  of  giving  oral  expression 
to  its  devout  conceptions.  It  must  leave  “ the  closet” — the 
inward  sanctuary — where  the  Divine  presence  is  most  clearly 
perceived  and  truly  worshiped.  Instead  of  remaining  in 
' the  spiritual  temple,  the  worshiper  must  go  out  and  explor*^ 


Six*  ihf  (loscriptioa  of  an  aucieut  prayer  mealing,  l.Kiugs,  chap.  xvni. 


TvATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


539 


the  dim  halls  of  his  earthly 'memory,  and  search  the  ward- j 
robe  of  the  imagination  in  clothing  his  ideas  : and  thus  j 
prayer  becomes  a philological  exercise.  In  traversing  the 
material  and  sensuous  avenues  that  lead  outwardly  to  the 
natural  world — which  it  must  do  in  order  to  conduct  the 

t 

process  of  external  communication — the  spirit  itself  is  ex- 
tei’nalized,  in  respect  to  the  direction  and  exercise  of  its 
powers.  The  internal  process. of  communion  with  the  Divine 
is  thus  suspended  by  a law  of  the  mental  constitution — a 
law  which  prevents  the  free  and  successful  exercise  of  its 
internal  and  external  faculties  at  the  same  time. 

It  may  be  possible  to  conduct  two  distinct  mental  pro- 
cesses at  the  same  moment ; but  this  is  rendered  extremely 
difficult  if  not  absolutely  impossible,  whenever  the  separate 
operations  of  the  mind  necessarily  involve  different  psycho- 
logical conditions.  It  neither  requires  a subtile  nnetaphysi- 
" cian  nor  a profound  psychologist  to  comprehend  this  view  of 
the  subject.  In  the  degree  that  the  mind  retires  to  the  inter- 
nal realm  of  perception  and  action,  we  become  oblivious  in 
respect  to  the  objects  and  occurrences  of  the  external  world. 
'This  is  illustrated  in  states  of  profound  mental  abstraction, 
and  especially  by  the  phenomena  of  the  magnetic  sleep,  and 
•the  ordinary  incapacity  of  the  mind  to  carry  the  impressions 
received  in  one  state  to  the  other,  without  a special  effort 
and  the  assistance  of  the  magnetic  operator.  Thus,  in  order 
to  enter  into  intimate  conscious  relations  with  the  realities 
of  the  interior  life  and  world,  it  is  necessary  to  lose  our 
outward  consciousness  in  a degree  that  is  incompatible  with 
orderly  intercourse  through  external  channels.  It  is  said 
that  in  our  devotions  we  should  forget  all  earthly  things, 

34 


540 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


and  that  all  the  faculties  should  be  concentrated  on  the  ob- 
ject of  worship.  But  in  proportion  as  the  powers  of  thouo^ht 
and  affection  concenter,  and  are  thus  exercised  in  one  direc- 
tion and  on  a single  objecf  we  are  rendered  incapable  of 
performing  any  function  that  depends  on  a division  or  dis- 
sipation of  the  mental  forces.  We  realize  this  in  the  influ- 
ence of  certain  outward  scenes  and  objects  on  the  mind. 
We  indulge  in  familiar  gossip,  on  the  flowery  bank  of  some 
\^babbling  stream,  but  we  are  speechless  before  Niagara. 
When  the  tempest  is  on  the  sea — wdien  a vision  of  disaster 
haunts  the  startled  soul,  an  unbroken  seal  is  set  on  the 
mariner^s  lip — he  is  silent,  because  one  thought  engages  all 
his  powers.  Let  the  man  who  converses  with  the  greatest 
volubility  gaze  for  five  minutes  at  the  starry  heavens,  and 
he  will  be  silent.  In  like  manner,  whoever  would  enter  into 
/most  intimate  relations  with  the  Invisible  and  enjoy  the 
/closest  communion,  must  disconnect  the  mind  from  all  other* 
(objects  and  exercises.  One,  alone,  and  a single  purpose  of 
the  mind,  must  absorb  all  feeling,  all  thought,  and  all  action. 
/After  this  manner  do  men  worship  when  they  worship  in 
/spirit.  This  exercise  of  the  religious  faculties  is  too  pro- 
found to  be  noisy.  Reverence  is  too  deep,  aspiration  too 
high,  and  joy  too  intense  for  utterance.  Religion,  in  a great 
inspired  soul,  is  infinitely  larger  than  all  its  fashionable 
clothing,  and  the  first  successful  effort  to  reveal  it  would 
shiver  its  mortal  symbols,  /fempty  minds  babble,  but  when 
the  soul  is  full,  tlie  tongue  is  chained  and  the  lips  are  sealed 
Worship  too  often  consists  in  mere  forms,  wliicli  at  best 
present  only  distorted  pictures  of  living  realities  ; or  auto- 
matic expressions  of  a dying  spirituality,  that  gasps  for 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


541 


breath  beneath  the  weight  of  its  gilded  covering.  Thus  the 
temples  of  Religion  become  its  sepulchers.  I am  not  in- 
sensible of  the  great  beauty  and  significance  of  that  eloquent 
symbolism  wherewith  the  ancient  nations  clothed  their  ideas. 
Buj^  all  that  was  most  vital  in  their  religious  systems  was 
beyond  and  witiiin  them.  Their  symbols  were  only  service- 
able so  far  as  they  contributed  to  inform  and  impress  the 
mind  with  the  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  duties  they  were 
designed  to  represent  and  inculcate.  So  long  as  visible 
images  were  suggestive  of  essential  principles,  they  were 
instructive  and  useful ; but  wherever  the  semblance  has 
been  mistaken  for  the  substance  -whenever  the  reality  is 
not  before  the  mind  and  in  the  heart — the  image  alone  is 
worshiped,  and  the  whole  system  is  rendered  corrupt  and 
idolatrous. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  religious  idea  often  suffers  a 
base  incarceration  in  its  outward  forms.  Too  often,  indeed, 
is  it  left  to  languish  in  darkness  and  in  chains.  Daylight 
is  excluded  from  the  fane,  and  the  waning  fires  on  its  de- 
serted altars,  like  dim  tapers  burning  in  the  thick  atmosphere 
of  tombs,  throws  a sickly  glare  over  the  scene  of  moral  and 
spiritual  deatli.  But  the  religious  sentiment  can  never  die. 
Its  ancient  temples  may  fall ; unclean  birds  may  inhabit  the 
ruins  ; the  infidel  may  revel  where  the  altar  stood  ; the  ox 
draw  the  ploughshare  over  consecrated  ground,  and  wild 
beasts  dwell  by  its  haunted  streams  and  in  its  sacred  moun- 
tains : but  Religion — deathless  as  the  soul  itself— hears  the 
trumpet  of  the  resurrection  in  the  very  shock  that  hurls  its 
material  symbols  and  deserted  temples  to  the  dust. 

Grand  and  imposing  as  are  the  outward  revelations  oi 


542 


MAN  AND  Ills  RELATIONS. 


inward  principles ; widely  extended  and  diversified  as  are  the 
visible  illustrations  of  the  religious  thought ; they  are  only 
dim  shadows  that  haunt  the  early  morning  of  our  immor- 
tality— images  that  dance  in  the  souhs  twilight— fleeting 
forms  of  everlasting  realities  which  the  coming  dayljght 
will  disclose.  In  a profound  and  enduring  sense,  that  which 
is  visible,  is  not ; whilst  that  which  is  not  seen,  was  from 
the  beginning  and  shall  remain  forever.  In  other  words, 
all  outward  forms  and  visible  phenomena  are  but  a'ppeaf- 
' ances — fleeting  shadows  of  invisible  realities.  This  is  true 
of  the  natural  world  and  of  human  institutions.  Indeed, 
all  sensuous  manifestations  of  the  religious  idea  ; all  stereo- 
typed creeds,  prayers  and  confessions  of  faith  ; the -peculiar 
claims  of  sacred  manuscripts,  and  the  supreme  authority  of 
carved  stones ; all  temples  and  altars  that  human  hands  have 
reared  from  the  beginning  ; all  sacred  places  and  solemn 
sounds,  are  less — less  by  a degree  that  admits  of  no  com- 
parison —than  the  religious  sentiment  itself,  as  it  dwells 
apart  and  alone  in  the  charmed  silence  of  the  conscious  soul. 

/Words  are  not  worship.  True  devotion  does  not  consist 
in  gilded  periods ; and  men  may  not  adore  in  solemn  looks 
and  tones.  Nor  yet  by  folding  tlie  limbs  together  do  they 
rise  from  the  base  elements  and  cold  formalism  of  this  dull 
sphere  into  those  supernal  realms  where  all  worship  is  spir- 
itual and  real.  To  worship  truly,  the  human  faculties  and 
affections  must  be  harmonized.  The  spirit  must  retire  in 
silence  from  the  earthly  orbit  of  its  being,  toward  that  cen- 
tral world  where  indestructible  principles  assume  the  place 
of  temporal  objects  ; where  thoughts  are  tilings  more  pal])a- 
ble  than  marble  walls,  and  essential  qualities  are  more  tan- 


RATIONALE  OP  WORSHIP. 


543 


giblc  tliaii  material  forms.  It  is  from  this  world  within 
that  the  soul  derives  the  elements  of  its  strength.  Here  it 
finds  true  liberty  and  divine  light.  This  intercourse  of  the 
spirit  with  the  great  souls  and  sublime  realities  of  tlie  in- 
visible empire,  is — with  occasional  exceptions — most  perfect 
when  we  liave  least  to  do  with  earthly  interests  and  pursuits. 
We  have  enjoyed  the  clearest  perceptions  of  spiritual  things, 
and  felt  the  deepest  sense  of  the  importance  of  true  worship, 
when  far  from  the  haunts  of  men.  Not  in  the  cathedral 
service,  when  the  measured  tones  of  the  organ  shake  the 
consecrated  pile,  have  we  formed  our  highest  conception  of 
universal  harmonies  ; it  was  not  there  tlmt  we  felt  the  deep- 
est sense  of  the  Divine  presence.  These,  in  our  personal 
experience,  have  been  realized — if  they -have  been  realized 
at  all — ill  the  great  temple  of  Nature.  Standing  on  some 
^lonely  mountain,  or  by  the  restless  ocean,  with  the  winds 
and  waves  as  divine  ministers  to  teach  lessons  of  freedom, 
we  have  felt  the  presence  and  inspiration  of  thoughts  which 
have  no  voice  and  no  language  on  the  earth.  Here,  in  this 
temple  of  the  Infinite,  the  elements  are  all  assembled  to  im- 
provise the  Creator’s  praise.  Through  crystal  caverns  of 
the  deep,  and  from  the  air-chambers,  where  thunders  tune 
their  awful  voices,  rolls  out  the  solemn  bass  in  Nature’s  har- 
mony ; and  all  things,  above,  beneath,  and  around  move  on 
forever — move 


“ To  that  great  anthem  calm  and  slow 
Which  God  repeats.”  * 

No  special  service  is  required  to  consecrate  the  place.  The 
Divine  presence  pervades  the  whole  sanctuary.  On  the 


544  MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 

mountain,  in  the  wilderness,  and  by  the  sea,  the  elements 
come  to  us  as  divine  messengers  ; they  wake  the  world  in  the 
morning  ; and  with  voices  musical  as  chiming  rills,  and  clear 
as  the  tones  of  silver  bells,  on  the  still  evening  air,  they  call 
us  to  vespers  in  His  own  great  Temple.  Even  here,  in  this 
house  of  God,  whose  pillars  uphold  the  solid  earth  on  which 
we  stand,  and  whose  vast  dome  is  lighted  by  unnumbered 
suns,  the  reverent  and  thoughtful  man  must  worship,  because 
worship  is  alike  the  law  of  the  place  and  of  his  being^ 
Rational  religion  never  immolates  the  natural  affections. 
It  sets  up  no  cruel  creed  as  the  cross  whereon  the  conscience 
must  be  crucified.  It  denounces  no  man  for  an  honest  opin- 
ion, but  appeals  to  the  mind  and  heart  with  irresistible  power. 
It  has  the  intelligence  to  perceive  that  thousands  can  no 
more  recognize  a moral  distinction  than  a blind  man  can 
distinguish  colors.  Wliile  it  is  the  custom  of  our  religious 
society  to  turn  over  all  the  former  to  the  police  and  the 
penitentiary,  it  makes  liberal  donations  to  the  blind  asylum. 
But  true  religion  does  not  propose  to  cure  our  moral  infirmi- 
ties by  torturing  either  the  body  or  the  soul.  It  would  no 
more  consign  a man  to  hell  for  an  inherited  moral  weakness 
than  it  would  damn  him  for  general  debility.  If  one  man 
inherits  tlie  scrofula  as  his  portion,  and  another  is  born  with 
a propensity  to  steal,  it  must  regard  both  with  compassion. 
How  unlike  the  conduct  of  the  institution  that  consigns  one 
to  the  care  of  the  doctor  and  sends  the  otlier  to  the  devil ! 

Many  men  liave  mistaken  cruelty  for  justice  and  delirium 
for  devotion  ; but  the  world  will  yet  discover  its  errors  and 
correct  them.  Vital  religion  will  be  found  at  last  to  con- 
sist in  the  orderly  development  and  harmonic  exercise  of 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


545 


the  human  faculties  and  affections,  exliibited  in  all  the  rela- 
tions of  a beautiful  and  divine  existence  ; and  worship  will 
be  the  spontaneous  but  silent  gravitation  of  the  soul  toward 
the  central  Life.  The  forms  of  worsiiip  may  change  and 
pass  away  ; but  the  indwelling  spirit  of  Religion  can  never 
die.  We  find  something  like  demonstration  of  this  in  the 
individual  consciousness  and  the  universal  history  of  man. 
From  innumerable  altars  in  many  lands  ; from  the  sacred 
urns  wlierein  the  ashes  of  moral  heroes  and  spiritual  re- 
formers are  garnered  up,  come  the  invitations  to  worship  ; 
and  Nature,  with  countless  voices  echoing  through 

“ that  Fane  most  Catholic  and  solemn, 

Which  God  hath  planned—” 

speaks  to  command  our  reverence  and  to  inspire  our  praise.  ^ 
We  are  prone  to  mistake  theology  for  religion;  whilst 
learned  disquisitions  and  imposing  ceremonies  are  substi- 
tuted for  the  means  of  grace.  For  this  reason,  salvation,  as  k 
a present,  personal  and  practical  thing,  is  about  as  rare  as  j 
summer  flowers  in  December.  The  people  are  not  saved  yet. 
The  rich  are  not  redeemed  from  their  avarice  nor  the  poor 
from  their  poverty.  The  modern  articles  of  faith  and  popular  \ 
forms  of  worship  have  neither  healed  the  sick,  opened  the  i 
eyes  of  the  spiritually  blind,  quickened  the  morally  dead,  ( 
nor  cast  out  the  foul  demons  of  pride  and  oppression  from 
the  human  heart.  These  evils  yet  remain,  and,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Christian  world,  still  operate  with  undiminished 
power.  The  church — as  an  outward  institution — is  disposed 
to  reject  any  new  revelations  that — in  the  progress  of  the 
world— may  come  through  channels  which  itself  has  not 


546 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


opened  and  consecrated.  Other  avenues  it  liedges  up,  and 
bars  the  windows  a<)^ainst  the  liglit  of  the  Present.  We  are 
not  wanting  in  a significant  illustration.  Grace  Church,  in 
the  City  of  N’ew  York,  (most  conspicuous  amongst  similar 
institutions  for  all  the  graces  of  fashionable  life,)  some  time 
since,  erected  a solid  wall  against  tlie  side  of  Dodworth’s 
Academy,  in  which  children  dance  through  the  week  and 
heretics  worship  on  Sunday.  Witliout  the  least  apparent 
compunction  it  darkened  the  windows  in  that  particular 
direction,  forgetting  that  tfie  common  Father  “ maketh  fiis 
sun  to  shine  alike  on  the  evil  and  on  tlie  good.^’  This  is 
not  precisely  the  dispensation  of  grace  that  the  world  needs. 
Nevertheless,  in  a moral  and  spiritual  sense  the  example  is 
so  extensively  followed  that  innumerable  partition  vralls  and 
otlier  barriers  are  erected  by  the  Church,  and  through  which 
millions  may  never  discern  the  great  light  of  To-day. 

The  Church,  as  a human  institution,  values  ancient  authori- 
ties rather  than  living  ideas  ; at  the  same  time  it  performs 
many  ceremonies  to  the  neglect  of  divine  charities.  Im- 
posing establishments  are  supported  at  vast  expense  ; and 
these  foster  tlie  pride  of  the  priesthood,  wliile  theMvorshiper 
pays  homage  to  the  dim  shadows  and  gilded  images  of  in- 
visible realities.  The  splendid  temple,  the  eloquent  minis- 
ter, the  ceremonial  worship,  as  well  as  sacred  relies,  solemn 
memories,  and  the  effigies  of  the  Saints  and  Apostles,  are 
only  serviceable  if  they  attract  the  soul  to  the  Infinite.  But 
when  the  mind  is  diverted  ; or  is  led  astray,  and  left  to  bow 
before  unworthy  objects ; when  the  religious  thouglit  can 
not  live  in  its  consecrated  symbols,  but  is  buried  liencath 
them  ; then,  indeed,  has  Religion  lost  its  spirituality  ; the 


RATIONALE  OP’  WORSHIP. 


547 


common  faith  of  the  Church  is  materialized,  and  its  worship 
becomes  a superior  phase  of  idolatry. 

Have  we  not  a right  to  demand  a more  liberal,  spiritual, 
and  practical  religion?  The  strength  and  prosperity  of  the 
Church  are  too  often  determined  by  the  value  of  its  tem- 
poral possessions  and  the  number  of  its  members  Where 
the  figures  are  large,  the  cause  is  said  to  be  prosperous. 
The  present  power  and  prospective  triumph  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  are  not  presumed  to  have  any  special  relation  to  a 
positive  growth  in  the  graces  of  a divine  life  ; much  less  do  ^ 
we  look  to  the  modern  disciple  for  the  exhibition  of  any 
genuine  spiritual  gifts.”  Such  gifts  are  readily  attributed 
to  many  characters  in  sacred  history  ; but  they  are  as  freely 
denied  to  all  the  living.  Such  a system  is  hollow  as  it  is 
fashionable.  How  long  shall  these  things  be,  and  when  may 
we  look  to  the  visible  Church  for  a practical  illustration  of 
the  simple  faith  and  all-embracing  charity  of  the  crucified 
Reformer?  When  will  the  institution,  established  in  his 
name,  be  baptized  into  the  spirit  that  works  by  love,  and 
with  the  fire  that  shall  consume  its  corruptions?  The  theo- 
logical gladiators  may  be  left  to  finish  their  contest  ; but  the 
Christian  should  begin  to  live  “ in  the  spirit.”  Shall  we  not 
at  last  test  the  efficacy  of  praying  in  deed  ? A present 
divine  revelation  to  the  soul,  and  especially  in  the -life,  is 
what  the  age  demands.  A long  sermon  is  not  worth  a dime 
to  a hungry  man.  He  wants  a new  dispensation  of  bread  ; 
the  prisoner  calls  for  pure  air  and  more  light ; and  many 
slaves  yet  wait  to  hear  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of 
their  individual  freedom.  Moreover,  the  image  of  God — 
covered  with  rags  and  filth,  and  otherwise  fearfully  dese-‘' 


548 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


crated — may  be  seen  every  day  in  the  year  on  the  front  steps 
of  Trinity — the  wealthiest  church  establishment  on  the  con- 
tinent. The  saints  are  liable  to  stumble  over  it  when  they 
go  to  worship.  As  they  pass,  the  image  looks  on  them  re- 
proachfully ; but  they  heed  it  not.  N^o  one  sees  the  divine 
likeness  in  the  poor  wretch  on  the  stone  steps.  They  have 
not  time  to  make  a discovery  ; they  go  there  to  worship  the 
Holy  Trinity,  and  then  go  away  to  profane  the  same  Trinity 
through  the  week,  by  using  it  to  distinguish  a proud  monied 
aristocracy,  that  recognizes  no  proper  distinction  between 
godliness  and  gain.  We  have  hope  for  the  world,  but  Oh, 
when  shall  such  institutions  be  redeemed  from  this  golden 
idolatry,  and  this  bitter  mockery  of  the  penury, of  Jesus? 
Gothic  architecture  and  the  finest  rhetoric  are  worthless  as 
an  atonement ; the  grand  incantations,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  are  powerless  to  disenthrall  the  sordid  mind  ; and 
a single  ablution  of  the  body  may  do  nothing  to  purify  the 
perverted  affections.  To  accomplish  this  work  we  need, 
and  we  must  have,  a new  infusion  of  the  spiritual  element 
and  the  baptism  of  fire. 

There  are  great  moral  forces  in  the  world,  whose  action 
is  rapidly  decomposing  the  ancient  systems.  Institutions, 
founded  on  the  prostrate  rights  of  man,  whether  originating 
in  the.  social  relations,  political  and  international  policy,  or 
in  the  religious  faith  and  worship  of  nations  and  races,  must 
inevitably  yield  to  the  progress  of  the  Age.  It  is  time  that 
the  theories  and  institutions  which  liavc  invested  the  spirit 
of  Love  with  immortal  hate,  should  pass  away,  that  tliey 
may  shackle  the  mind  and  encumber  the  earth  no  more. 
Such  distorted  and  unnatural  forms  of  the  religious  thought 


RATIONALE  OF  WORSHIP. 


549 


can  never  more  be  animated  by  the  indwelling  divinity, 
.whose  abiding  place  is  not  in  the  sepulchers  among  “ dead 
men’s  bones.”  It  must  and  will  go  out  to» quicken  new  and 
more  beautiful  creations.  Some  dismal  souls  may  still  linger 
behind  to  Aveep  over  the  old  body,  but  the  true  disciple  will 
rejoice  ; and,  ‘ leaving  tlie  dead  to  bury  their  dead,’  follow 
the  deathless  spirit  to  the  consecration  of  other  temples,  and 
to  the  altars  of  a purer  worship. 

There  is  not  an  instance  of  Christian  forgiveness  ; not  an  / 
attempt  to  equalize  labor  and  the  gifts  of  Providence,  that  i ^ 
does  not  present  an  argument  against  those  exclusive  and  - 
sectarian  institutions  that  divide  and  distract  the  people.! 
Every  effort  to  promote  peace  and  good  will  among  men  ; 
every  earnest  Avord  spoken  against  cruel  laws  and  vindictive 
punishments,  is  a bloAv  aimed  at  the  foundation  on  Avhich 
they  stand.  Every  instance  of  affection  to  an  ungrateful 
child  ; every  tear  the  mother  sheds  in  secret  for  her  way- 
ward boy  ; the  love  of  Jesus  for  his  enemies,  and  the  strug- 
gles and  sacrifices  of  every  sincere  .Reformer,  proclaim,  in 
eloquent  and  powerful  language,  the  soul’s  protest  against 
every  system  of  wrong,  and  its  significant  prophecy  of  the 
Church  that  is  to  be.  The  people  whose  faith  is  in  creeds  ; 
whose  reverence  of  books  and  human  masters  becomes  a 
base  idolatry,  and  whose  religion  is  chiefly  comprehended 
in  their  theological  opinions  and  Sunday  ceremonies,  may 
well  tremble  at  “ the  signs  of  the  times.”  But  to.  the  great 
soul  whose  common  law  is  progress  ; whose  Actual  life  is  a 
succession  of  great  thoughts  and  illustrious  deeds  ; whose 
religion  is  constant  growth  and  increasing  illumination,  and 
whose  prayers  are  the  daily  efforts  and  aspirations  of  the 


550 


MAJT  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


ready  hand  and  the  aspiring  mind — the  Present  is  full  of 
encouragement  and  hope. 

The  Church  of  the  Future  will  have  no  arbitrary  rules, 
regarding  the  speculative  opinions  of  the  believer  ; no  arti- 
cles of  faith  that  are  more  sacred  and  inviolable  than  the 
soul — neither  compulsive  forces,  nor  unnatural  restraints, 
either  within  or  without.  On  the  contrary,  the  liarmony  of 
its  elements,  and  the  union  of  its  members,  will  be  preserved 
by  a moral  and  spiritual  cohesion,  and  the  laws  of  a divine 
order.  Its  sacred  books  will  comprehend  the  discovered 
principles  and  accumulated  wisdom  of  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries ; and  its  ministers  be  employed  to  illustrate  the  science 
of  religion,  and  the  philosophy  of  all  human  relations.  In 
that  Church  the  spirit  and  life  will  be  paramount  over  the 
letter  and  the  form.  Its  sacraments  shall  be  feasts  of  charity 
given  to  the  poor  ; its  constant  prayer,  one  mighty  and  un- 
ceasing effort  to  do  good,  and  its  perpetual  and  eloquent 
sermon,  a spotless  life. 

It  may  be  said  that  these  views  of  religion  and  worship 
are  not  Christain.  On  this  point — without  intending  any 
disrespect  to  modern  disciples — I may  be  allowed  to  respect 
the  paramount  authority  of  the  Master.  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
recognized  as  the  only  true  worship  that  which  is  spiritua'j 
and  practical.  To  the  woman  whom  he  met  at  Jacob’s  well 
he  said  : “ The  hour  cometh  and  now  is  when  the  true  wor- 
shipers shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  . . . 
God  is  a Spirit  ; and  they  that  worship  him  must  luorship 
him  in  spirit^  He  held  the  service  of  the  lips  in  the  lowest 
possible  estimation,  but  everywhere  inculcatpd  the  truth,  that 
an  earnest  labor  of  the  heart  and  the  hands  might  open  the 


RATIONALE  OP  WORSHIP. 


551 


doors  gf  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  was  not  tlie  prayer  of 
^v  ords  that  was  most  effectual ; but  he  thus  recognized  earn- 
est deeds  as  fervent  supplications:  “Not  everyone  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  tlie  kingdom  of 
heaven  ; but  he  that  doeth  the  loill  of  my  Father  whicli  is  in 
heaven.’’  These  significant  words  form  a part  of  the  me- 
morable “ Sermon  on  the  Mount,”  the  delivery  of  which  was 
not  preceded  by  a formal  prayer,  or  any  external  act  of 
devotion.  The  Founder  of  the  Christian’s  religion  was  not 
accustomed  to  pray  in  public,  save  in  the  silent  exercises  of 
his  spirit  The  Apostles  never  introduced  their  sermons  by^ 
oral  prayer,  or  any  other  religious  ceremonies.  Moreover, 
Jesus  bade  his  disciples  not  to  pray  thus,  on  public  occasions, 
in  these  emphatic  words  : “ Thou  shalt  not  he  as  the  hypo- 
crites; for  they  Jove  to  pray  standing  in  the  synagogues^ 
Those  who  insist  that  such  external  acts  of  devotion  neces- 
sarily constitute  an  essential  part  of  true  worship,  are  at 
liberty  to  reconcile  their  views  and  the  modern  custom  with 
the  teachings  and  example  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles. 

I have  intimated  that  in  the  beautiful  conception  of  the 
Nazarine,  worship  was  not  only  spiritual,  but  it  was  also 
practical.  It  was  at  once  an  exercise  of  the  soul  and  a 
work  of  the  hands.  Hence  it  has  been  truly  and  beautifully 
said  that  “vLabor  is  PrayerV’  A word-petition  is  only  one 
mode  whereby  men  express  their  desires.  We  are  not  ne- 
cessarily restricted  to  this  form  of  expression.  It  is  a false 
assumption  that  all  prayer  must  come  through  the  glottis. 
We  are  not  authorized  to  regard  that  particular  channel  as 
more  sacred  than  any  other.  A man  may  pray  quite  as  re- 
verently through  the  muscles  of  his  right  arm.  The  exten- 


552 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sors  are  instruments  of  divine  ordination,  and  tliek  use  is 
no  less ‘consecrated.  Indeed,  the  trutli  that  “ actions  speak 
louder  than  words,’’  has  become  a proverb  ; and  that  man 
prays  most  fervently  and  effectually  who  prays  in  deed. 

An  interesting  incident,  said  to  have  occurred  in  the  life 
of  Frederick  Douglass,  will  illustrate  the  superior  efficacy  of 
this  kind  of  prayer.  Some  time  before  his  escape  from 
bondage  he  was  accustomed  to  go  daily  to  a particular  place 
where  he  prayed  earnestly  for  deliverance.  One  day  the 
form  of  his  prayer  was  interrupted  by  a mysterious  voice 
wliich  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  practical  method, 
saying — with  a peculiar  empliasis — “ Frederick  ! pray  with 
your  legs !”  Frederick  was  very  naturally  astonished,  and, 
for  a moment,  bewildered  5 but  at  length,  concluding  to  act 
on  the  suggestion,  he  achieved  liis  freedom.  I am  also  in- 
formed that  the  Congregation  at  Plymouth  Church,  one 
Sunday  morning,  gave  an  impressive  illustration  of  practical 
prayer.  They  prayed  for  a helpless  woman,  on  whose  neck 
the  oppressor  (he  was,  nominally,  a Christian  oppressor,) 
had  set  his  practically  infidel  foot.  The  people  were  united 
in  spirit,  and  they  prayed  earnestly  and  in  deed,  each  putting 
his  hand  in  his  own  pocket,  and  together  contributing  the 
price  of  freedom.  And  it  came  to  pass,  in  the  same  hour, 
that  the  arm  of  the  oppressor  was  paralyzed,  and  the  chains 
of  the  poor  slave  fell  asunder  like  untwisted  flax  when  it 
is  touched  with  a'burning  brand. 

Surely  the  workers  are  the  worshipers.  It  is  at  once 
highly  honorable  and  truly  religious  to  labor.  The  impri- 
soned victims  of  disease  and  ignorance  ; multitudes,  down- 
trodden beneath  the  heel  of  despotism,  and  the  virtuous 


RATIONALE  OP  WORSHIP. 


553 


poor  tliroiiglioiit  tlie  world,  present  earnest  and  solemn  in- 
vitations to  the  practical  form  of  worship.  And  with  what 
steady  faitli  and  irresistible  power  do  the  laboring  millions 
pray,  early  and  late— the  poor  seamstress  by  the  dim  light 
in  her  clieerless  room  ; the  husbandman  in  his  field  ; the 
smith  at  his  forge,  and  the  mariner  on  the  sea — all  who  work 
faithfully,  pray  through  each  quivering  nerve,  and  every 
smitten  and  trembling  fiber  of  a muscle — “ pray  without 
ceasing!”  Verily,  there  is  no  petition,  in  which  human 
necessities  and  desires  are  expressed,  that  at  once  displays 
so  much  unity  of  spirit  and  continuity  of  purpose  ; such  in- 
tensity of  feeling  and  grandeur  of  expression,  as  the  fervent, 
sublime  and  effectual  prayer  that  comes  up  from  the  great 
temple  of  Toil,  and  is  thus  literally  translated  : 

“ Give  us  this  day  our  daily  Bread.” 


i 


/ 


fi  ) : - , i J 

J. 

/ > i 0 C i 

/ ■ y-/ 

^aC  j i 

^ . i 

^ / 


^ } ) 
-'V  ' V'#/  y y- 


i/  '/  ■ 


CHAPTER  XXXVr. 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OP  IMORTALITY. 

Question  of  Immortality — Indestructibility  of  Matter  — The  Life- Principle 
in  all  Substance — Visible  and  Invisible  Elements — Law  of  Organization 
— Unseen  Realms  of  Organized  Life — The  Brain  but  the  Instrument  of 
the  Mind — The  ultimate  seat  of  Sensation  in  the  Soul— Exercise  of  the 
Faculties  without  the  Corporeal  Organs— The  Body  periodically  Changed 
— Testimony  of  M.  Favre  before  the  French  Academy — Eliminatidn  of 
Mineral  Poisons  -M.  OrQla’s  demonstrative  Experiments — The  Material- 
ist’s Objections — The  Identity  preserved  through  all  Physical  Changes — 
Argument  from  Memory— Sensation  and  Consciousness  neither  suspended 
nor  circumscribed  by  the  Amputation  of  Limbs — A.  popular  Objection 
disposed  of — The  imperishable  Body — Reasons  for  the  apparent  decay  of 
the  Faculties — Conclusion. 

If  a man  die,  shall  he  live  again? — Job. 

There  is  a natural  body,  and  there  is  a spiritual  body. — Paul 

OUR  interest  in  Man  and  his  Relations  does  not  terminate 
here ; but  it  reaches  forward  and  upward  far  beyond  the 
limited  sphere  of  his  existence  on  earth.  Indeed,  the  great 
question,  compared  with  which  all  others  arc  of  momentary 
concern,  is  that  which  relates  to  the  life  hereafter  ; and  for 
this  reason  a brief  discussion  of  the  Natural  Evidences  of 
Immortality  will  form  an  appropriate  conclusion  of  the  pre- 
sent treatise.  If  the  relations  of  liuman  nature  to  the. essen- 
tial laws,  the  organized  forms,  and  material  elements  of  tlie 
natural  world,  are  eminently  worthy  to  engage  the  attention 
of  the  scientific  philosopher,  with  what  pi’ofound  and  solemn 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OP  IMMORTALITY. 


555 


interest  must  tlie  rational  mind  approach  the  present  in- 
quiry! We  are  daily  reminded  that  tlie  individual  life  of 
man  is  soon  concealed  from  all  mortal  observers.  If  the 
vital  flame  is  forever  extinguished,  what  significance  has 
human  nature  ; and  what  permanent  interest  does  the  world 
possess,  if  this  brief  existence  is  all  of  life  ? If  the  light 
of  the  soul  were  obscured  at  death,  in  an  endless  and  total 
eclipse,  we  should  be  constrained  to  regard  the  crowning 
work  of  the  Creator  as  a melancholy  failure.  But  Man  is 
not  to  be  compared  to  the  ephemera — he  is  not  the  creature 
of  a day.  On  the  contrary,  those  who  so  suddenly  elude 
our  imperfect  observation  are  neither  annihilated  nor  lost  in 
impenetrable  darkness  ; they  only  step  within  the  vail,  and 
assume  new  relations,  in  which  they  become  invisible  to 
mortals  amidst  the  superior  splendors  of  another  world. 

Every  living  body  in  its  turn” is  disorganized;  material 
combinations  are  perpetually  changing  ; and  even  the  solid 
rocks  perish  by  the  gradual  process  of  disintegration.  But 
amidst  this  scene  of  constant  mutation  the  material  philoso- 
pher recognizes  the  fact  that  there  is  nothing  lost.  Neitlier 
the  laws  of  Nature,  the  methods  of  Science,  nor  the  instru- 
mentalities of  Art,  enable  us  to  destroy  anything.  At  most 
we  are  only  capable  of  changing  the  organized  forms  and 
specific  combinations  of  the  physical  world.  For  this  reason 
the  materialist  may  naturally  assume  the  indestructibility  of 
matter.  If  we  admit  the  assumption,  he,  especially,  is  bound 
to  accept  any  conclusion  that  may  be  fairly  drawn  from  his 
premises.  Matter  has  its  inherent  forces,  and  wherever  the 
one  exists  the  others  are  necessarily  manifested.  It  is  not 
possible  for  matter  to  exist  unaccompanied  by  its  own  cssen- 

35 


55G 


MAX  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


tial  qualities  and  fundamental  laws.  Indeed  the  invisible 
principles  that  govern  the  physical  elements  are  inseparable 
from  those  elements  themselves.  In  conceiving  of  the  exist- 
ence of  matter,  therefore,  the  rational  mind  readily  appre- 
hends the  presence  of  its  vital  principles,  not  as  a possible 
contingency,  but  as  an  absolute  necessity.  Atoms  and  orbs 
move,  and  motion  must  be  perpetual  ; the  organizing  law 
exists,  and  the  work  must  proceed  forever  ; the  Life-princi- 
ple is  universally  diffused,  and  wherever  there  is  substance 
tiiat  principle  may  be  revealed  in  its  organic  forms.  Our 
microscopic  observations  and  the  experiments  of  certain 
philosophers,  suggest  that  all  Nature  moves  and  is  instinct 
with  Life.  The  essential  principle  and  organic  law  pervade 
and  govern  all  matter  ; and  lienee  it  must  follow — matter 
being  indestructible— that  life  is  immortal. 

The  idea  of  an  invisible  creation,  peopled  by  beings,  far 
more  ethereal  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  is  supported 
/ by  strong  presumptive  reasons.  In  the  absence  of  such  a 
realm  and  of  such  natures,  it  appears  to  the  author  that  the 
Universe  would  be  incomplete.  We  find  that  matter  exists 
in  various  degrees  of  density  and  tenuity.  The  rocks  and 
metals,  tlie  earths  and  the  waters,  are  all  tangible  ; but  the 
atmosphere,  the  impalpable’  gases,  the  electric  medium  of  the 
earth  and  air,  and  other  subtile  forms  of  matter,  escape  tlie 
present  observation  of  the  senses  on  account  of  their  cx- 
j treme  rarity.  For  the  present  we  are  left  to  detennine  their 
existence  and  recognize  their  presence  only  by  their  effects. 
It  is  admitted  that  matter  exists  in  tliese  rarified  and  super- 
sensible states  ; and  it  is  quite  likely  that  die  gradations  of 
matter,  without  and  above  tlie  spliere  of  sensuous  perception, 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY.  557 

are  qiiite  as  numerous  as  those  that  are  embraced  within  the 
present  limits  of  our  observation.  If  matter  or  substance, 
when  unorganized,  may  be  so  sublimated  as  to  elude  the 
senses,  on  the  physical  plain  of  their  exercise,  (and  this  is 
never  disputed,)  it  may  be  rationally  inferred  that  they  so 
exist  in  organized  bodies.  The  objection  based  on  the  fact 
that  such  forms  cannot  be  discerned  by  the  natural  eye,  has 
no  weight,  since  the  constituents  of  which  the  same  are  pre- 
sumed to  be  composed  are  also  invisible.  The  combination 
of  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  with  other  gases,  in  less  propor- 
tions— forming  the  elastic  medium  that  surrounds  the  earth 
— are  all  invisible.  Nevertheless,  this  rarefied  medium  is  as 
essentially  material,  and  exists  as  absolutely,  as  the  denser 
substances  that  make  up  the  solid  globe  itself.  Though  the 
weight  of  the  atmosphere  is  about  fifteen  pounds  to  every 
square  inch  of  the  earth’s  surface,  yet  the  elements  are  so 
rare  and  attenuate  that  they  are  rendered  invisible.  But 
we  never  q'uestion  the  existence  of  the  subtile  elements  be- 
cause they  are  not  cognizable  by  the  ordinary  powers  of 
sensation.  If,  then,  there  is  a wide  realm  wherein  unor- 
ganized matter  escapes  our  sensuous  observation,  there 
must  also — to  complete  the  Creation — be  an  organized  world, 
peopled  by  beings  who  are  invisible  on  account  of  the  ex- 
treme tenuity  of  the  elements  that  enter  into  the  composition 
and  structure  of  their  bodies. 

There  is  but  one  way  to  avoid  this  conclusion.  It  must 
be  rendered  apparent  that  matter,  in  its  more  sublimated 
states,  is  never  subject  to  the  laws  of  organization.  But 
while  the  evidence  from  Nature  does  nothing  to  support 
such  a conclusion,  it  certainly  goes  far  to  establish  an  oppo- 


558 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


site  conviction.  We  discover  that  matter  in  its  grossest  or 
densest  forms  can  not  be  readily  organized.  There  is  not 
sufficient  freedom  and  rapidity  in  the  molecular  changes  to 
admit  of  such  an  organic  arrangement  of  ultimate  atoms. 
A tree  will  not  take  root  on  the  bare  surface  of  a granite 
rock,  and  the  seed  that  is  deposited  in  a marble  vase,  without 
either  earth  or  water,  will  never  germinate,  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  the  forms  of  matter  with  which  it  sustains  im- 
mediate relations  are  not  properly  prepared  by  the  natural 
processes  of  sublimation  to  admit  of  their  assimilation,  even 
by  the  lowest  forms  of  the  organized  world.  It  is  certain 
that  the  organizations  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  derive  their 
chief  support  from  the  invisible  elements  of  the  atmosphere. 
To  demonstrate  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  place  some  plant, 
that  grows  rapidly  and  to  a large  size,  in  a vessel  contain- 
ing a given  quantity  of  earth.  If,  in  its  complete  develop- 
ment, the  cubic  contents  of  the  plant  should  be  equal  to  the 
entire  mass  of  earth,  it  will  still  be  found  that  the  actual 
quantity  of  the  latter  is  but  little  less  than  before.  The 
facts  appear  to  warrant  the  conclusion,  that  the  tendency  of 
matter  to  assume  organic  forms  and  relations  increases  in 
proportion  as  the  elements  become  rarified.  If  I am  riglit, 
it  must  follow  that  the  highest  states  of  material  attenuation 
are  extremely  favorable  to  the  processes  of  organic  chemis- 
try ; and  hence  the  most  etliereal  essences  may  be  organized. 
Thus,  in  admitting  tlie  indestructibility  of  matter,  Ave  dis- 
cover something  like  a material  basis  and  naturaLfoundation 
for  faith  in  the  existence  of  an  invisible,  Spiritual  World. 

We  have  no  right  to  assume  tliat  the  utmost  limits  of  the 
realm  of  organized  existence  are  to  bo  determined  by  the 


559 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OP  IMMORTALITY. 

capacity  of  the  natural  senses.  Sucli  an  assumption  is  at 
onee  opposed  to  reason  and  science.  The  microscope  has 
already  opened  a new  world  to  our  perceptions,  and  revealed 
the  existenee  of  a vast  realm,  swarming  with  innumerable 
hosts  of  organized  creatures  endowed  with  vital  and  volun- 
tary motion  and  sensation.  Before  the  naked  eye  all  these  are 
invisible.  Thus  we  have  been  forced,  by  the  progress  in  science 
and  art,  to  acknowledge  the  reality  of  an 'organic  creation, 
invisible  on  account  of  the  minuteness  of  its  structures  ; and 
it  surely  is  not  unreasonable  to  infer  the  existence  of  other 
and  diviner  natures,  whose  refined  substance  and  superior 
organs  are  adapted  to  perform  the  appropriate  functions  of 
intelligent  beings. 

But  it  may  be  objected,  that  while  the  intrinsic  forces  and 
laws  of  matter  are  as  lasting  as  matter  itself,  still  its  speci- 
fic combinations  are  constantly  changing,  and  its  particular 
forms  are  all  subject  to  decay.  Hence,  a demonstration  of 
the  universality  and  indestructibility  of  the  life-principle, 
may  afford  no  evidence  of  our  individual  immortality.  The 
force  of  this  objection  is  readily  acknowledged,  but  only  in 
its  application  to  the  preceding  argument.  Happily  we  are 
not  restricted  to ' such  evidence  as  may  only  serve  to  estab- 
lish a probability.  Our  claim  to  a conscious  existence  after 
the  death  of  the  body  may  be  supported  by  a different  course 
of  reasoning,  and  more  direct  evidence  derived  from  the 
constitution  of  Man. 

The  indestructibility  of  the  human  mind  is  impressively 
indicated  by  the  peculiar  nature  and  unlimited  scope  of  the 
faculties.  If  it  were  only  fitted  to  perceive  material  forms, 
and  to  note  the  simple  facts  and  circumstances  of  outward 


560 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


life,  there  might  be  some  occasion  to  doubt  the  perpetuity 
of  being.  But  the  mind  has  a wider  range  and  a higlier 
sphere,  to  which  it  exhibits  a direct  tendency  and  specific 
adaptation.  So  general  is  the  desire  to  live,  that  self-pre- 
servation is  denominated  “ the  first  lavf  of  nature  f and  the 
aspiration  for  a state  of  being  superior  to  the  present  imper- 
fect life,  in  all  its  relations  and  appointments,  is  scarcely 
less  universal.  It  is  manifestly  impossible  for  any  being  to 
occupy  a place,  to  desire  a life,  or  even  to  conceive  of  a con- 
dition, that  is  above  the  plain  of  its  nature — or  that  condition 
which  it  may  realize  in  the  subsequent  development  of  its 
faculties.  Can  the  beast  conceive  of  the  relations  that  ex- 
ist among  men?  Evidently  not,  for  the  obvious  reason  that 
such  relations  form  no  part  of  the  destiny  that  awaits  him. 
The  highest  development  of  which  his  nature  is  susceptible, 
must  necessarily  leave  him  far  beneath  tlie  dignity  of  man’s 
estate. 

If  the  nature  of  man  were  altogether  earthly,  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  body  were  in  fact  the  annihilation  of  being, 
from  what  source  could  we  derive  the  power  to  grasp  tlie 
first  principle  of  spiritual  science?  And  who,  in  tliis  view 
of  the  case,  will  explain  the  philosopliy  of  that  mysterious 
and  delightful  fascination  that  leads  the  willing  soul  far  away . 
into  an  ideal  realm  ? If  what  wo  call  death  has  power  to 
disorganize  the  mind,  to  destroy  its  elements,  and  swallow 
up  the  identity  to  which  we  so  fondly  cling,  why  should  man 
have  the  least  conception  of  an  invisible  world  and  an  im- 
mortal life  ? The  simplest  form  of  the  conception  is  above 
all  that  distinguishes  the  sphere  of  mere  material  and  brute 
existence ; and  yet  the  idea  lives  in  the  common  mind,  and 


NATURAL  EVIDENCSS  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


561 


the  liopc  of  Immortality  is  incorporated  with  the  very  ele- 
ments of  our  mental  constitution.  Nor  is  it  always  vague 
and  unsatisfactory.  With  a serene  joy  we  anticipate  the 
time  when,  with  a clear  vision,  we  shall  perceive  the  Past 
and  the  Future  ; wlien  our  highest  thoughts  will  no  more  be 
distorted  by  inflexible  and  unmeaning  forms  of  speech,  and 
no  arbitrary  custom  will  be  left  to  subvert  the  great  law  of 
affinity,  by  which  congenial  natures  meet  and  mingle  together. 
The  idea  of  such  a life,  is  the  revelation  of  its  existence, 
whilst  the  desire  it  awakens  in  the  soul  is  the  significant 
prophecy  of  its  realization. 

Ordinary  observers  are  accustomed  to  attribute  the  diver- 
sified phenomena  of  sensation — all  the  thrilling  revelations 
of  pleasure  and  pain — to  the  brain  and  the  nervous  system. 
And  yet  the  ultimate  seat  of  sensation  must  be  sought  else- 
where. The  nerves  do  not  feel ; it  is  neither  the  eye  that' 
sees  nor  the  ear  that  hears  ; much  less  may  the  brain  be 
supposed  to  be  the  source  of  our  intelligence.  It  is  but  the 
instrument  of  the  mind  ; and  we  examine  its  structure  and 
its  substance  in  vain,  in  our  search  for  the  soul.  Neither  a 
skillful  dissection,  a chemical  analysis,  nor  a microscopic 
inspection  will  suffice  to  discover  the  human  faculties  and 
affections.  The  physiologists,  who  adopt  the  material  phi- 
losophy of  human  nature,  have  been  puzzled  to  determine 
the  portion  of  the  brain  in  which  consciousness  resides  ; \ 
and  while  uncertain  where  to  locate  the  chief  seat  of  sen- 
sation, in  the  visual  organ,  they  have  at  length  ascer- 
tained that  the  base  of  the  optic  nerve  has  no  sensibility.  \ 
Thus  we  discover  that  our  powers  of  perception  are  not 
necessarily  to  be  found  in  the  organs  of  general  and  special 


562 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


sensation.  Even  those  convolutions  of  the  brain,  through 
whicli  all  the  noblest  faculties  are  exercised,  may  be  pared 
off,  and  the  whole  cerebral  structure  removed  down  to  the 
corpus  callosum,  and  still  the  subject  experienced  no  pain 
under  the  operation.  Moreover,  digestion  and  all  the  func- 
tions necessary  to  life  still  continue.’ 

Now  if  sensation  originates  in  the  brain,  as  the  material 
philosophers  imagine,  why  is  the  brain  itself  insensible  ? 
This  mystery  must  be  forever  inexplicable  unless  we  admit 
the  two-fold  nature  of  Man.  On  the  contrary,  if  all  the 
senses  have  their  primary  seat  in  the  spirit,  the  question 
will  certainly  admit  of  a rational  solution.  In  fact,  if  the 
brain  be  regarded  as  the  mere  instrument  of  sensorial  im- 
pressions, it  can  not  be  difficult  to  account  for  the  remarka- 
ble fact  which  Dr.  Wigan  and  several  physiologists  have 
observed.  Cutting  the  brain  may,  therefore,  occasion  no 
suffering,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that  sensation  does  not 
essentially  belong  to  that  organ,  but  to  the  soul. 

But  there  are  other  and  still  more  convincing  reasons  for 
entertaining  this  view  of  the  subject,  some  of  which  follow 
in  this  connection.  The  senses  are  often  exercised  when 
their  corporeal  instruments  are  not  employed,  as  must  be 
evident  from  the  illustrations  presented  in  another  portion 
of  this  treatise. 2 If  the  somnambulist  and  the  magnetic 
sleeper  have  the  power  to  see  in  the  absence  of  light,  and 
without  the  use  of  the  organic  instrument,  it  is  obvious  that 
sight — in  the  most  essential  sense — does  not  belong  to  the 

1 See  Dr.  Wigan’s  Treatise  on  the  Duality  of  the  Mind. 

2 In  this  connection  the  reader  may  find  it  profitable  to  refer  to  the  chapter 
on  the  Uiairveyant  Vision. 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


563 


eye.  TIcnco  the  power  of  vision  may  not  always  or  neces- 
sarily depend  on  the  integrity  of  the  physical  organ  ; nor, 
indeed,  on  the  preservation  of  the  body. 

The  plicnomena  developed  in  the  psychological  states  re- 
ferred to,  suggest  the  propriety  of  the  same  course  of  rea- 
soning in  its  application  to  all  the  senses  and  their  organs. 
But  for  the  purposes  of  our  illustration,  the  single  faculty 
of  vision  and  its  organic  instrument,  will  suffice.  The  eye 
of  the  sleep-walker  is  generally  open,  and  whilst  his  move- 
ments demonstrate  that  his  sight  is  preternaturally  clear,  it 
is  no  less  manifest  that  the  visual  organ  is  utterly  useless 
during  the  continuance  of  the  trance.  This  is  confirmed  by 
our  observation  of  the  following  facts.  First — The  vision 
of  the  natural  somnambulist  and  the  magnetic  seer  is  not 
subject  to  the  conditions  of  natural  sight,  inasmuch  as  they 
are  able  to  see  clearly  in  total  darkness.  Second — They 
also  see  through  the  most  opaque  substances,  and  all  the 
solid  bodies  of  the  terrestrial  world  become  transparent. 
Moreover,  as  the  naked  eye  of  a person  in  this  state  may  be 
exposed  to  the  strongest  light,  without  tlie  slightest  contrac- 
tion of  the  pupil,  we  have  here  another  apparent  demonstra- 
tion of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  sensibility  in  the  optic  nerve. 
These  observations  seem  to  warrant  the  inference,  that  since 
the  senses  are  capable  of  an  independent  exercise  even  now, 
and  whilst  we  continue  in  the  body,  the  physical  organs  are 
not  absolutely  indispensable.  If  one  may  have  this  perfect 
use  of  his  senses  for  an  hour — whilst  the  organs  of  sense 
are  rendered  temporarily  useless — who  will  affirm  that  the 
same  power  may  not  continue  forever?  These  facts,  and 
this  course  of  reasoning,  inevitably  lead  to  the  conclusion. 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


5r)4 

that  all  tlio  faculties  of  the  mind  will  remain  wlien  tlie  body 
shall  have  been  finally  disorganized. 

It  is  a fact  well  known  to  the  student  of  vital  chemistry, 
and  clearly  enough  illustrated  in  the  vegetable  and  animal 
physiology,  that  all  the  forms  of  the  organic  creation  are 
subject  to  constant  mutation.  Upon  the  reciprocal  inter- 
change of  elementary  particles,  between  the  vegetable  and 
animal  kingdoms,  the  life  of  both  essentially  depends.  That 
a similar  process  is  constantly  going  on,  in  respect  to  all  the 
constituents  of  the  human  body,  can  scarcely  be  doubted  by 
any  one  who  has  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  scientific  in- 
vestigation and  discovery.  Thus,  by  a gradual  process,  the 
effete  substances  are  thrown  off  from  the  system,  and  the 
places  previously  occupied  by  the  eliminated  particles  arc 
supplied  by  others,  deposited  and  assimilated  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  organic  chemistry.  This  trutli  is  well  understood 
and  generally  admitted.  It  may  be  expedient,  however,  to 
briefly  hint  at  some  of  the  accredited  facts  and  scientific 
proofs  of  the  atomic  changes  which  thus  proceed  without 
interruption  in  the  living  body. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  vital  processes  do  not  result 
in  the  progressive  elimination  of  all  the  particles  ; in  otlier 
words,  that  tlie  body  is  not  changed  in  its  entirety.  But 
tliis  objection  will  not,  of  course,  be  urged  in  reference  to 
tlie  fluid  portions  of  the  body.  It  is  only  in  respect  to  the 
solids  that  it  has  so  much  as  a seeming  plausibility  when — 
in  the  full  light  of  modern  science — it  is  submitted  to  care- 
ful inspection.  If,  then,  in  its  application  to  the  fluid  por- 
^tions  of  the  system,  the  objection  has  no  validity,  it  follows 
that  comparatively  a very  small  portion  of  its  substance  may 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


565 


be  supposed  to  remain  unchanged,  since  the  solids  in  a full- 
grown  iiumaii  body  seldom  exceed  ten  pounds.  By  this  sim- 
ple process  of  evaporation,  the  body  that  weighed  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  may  be  reduced  to  twelve ; and  the 
embalmed  bodies  exhumed  from  the  Egyptian  tombs — from 
which  all  the  fluids  have  been  completely  dissipated— are 
sometimes  found  to  weigh  only  seven  or  eight  pounds.  Now, 
if  all  fluid  substances  may  be  exhaled,  or  otherwise  expelled 
from  the  system,  by  the  vital  forces  and  processes,  it  will  be 
perceived  that  but  little  remains,  and  that  little  is  easily  dis- 
posed of.  It  is  well  known  that  the  very  elements  of  which 
the  muscles  and  the  bones  are  composed  may  exist  in  a fluid 
state.  Indeed,  they  did  so  exist  at  first ; for  the  solid  tissues 
are  woven  from  elements  held  in  solution,  and  constantly 
circulating  through  the  body. 

That  the  denser  substances,  in  solution,  are  expelled  from 
the  system  through  the  cuticle,  is  abundantly  confirmed  by 
the  uniform  testimony  of  physiologists,  and  demonstrated 
by  the  results  of  scientific  experiments.  According  to  Lo- 
voisier  and  others,  not  less  than  six  pounds  of  matter  are 
often  removed  from  the  body,  thi’ough  the  perspiratory  ducts, 
in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours.  ’ This  is  not  all  water. 
By  a skillful  analysis  of  perspiration,  M.  Favre — as  appears 
from  a paper  submitted  to  the  French  Academy— detected 
tlie  presence  of  certain  metallic  salts  ; and  from  the  quantity 
employed  in  his  experiments,  he  obtained  no  less  than  six 
grammes  of  lactate  of  zinc — that  is,  a quarter  of  an  ounce.^ 

1 See  Brand’s  Encyclopedia. — Article,  Perspiration. 

2 The  reader  is  referred  to  the  Annual  of  Scientific  Discovery,  for  1853, 
for  an  account  of  Favre’s  Experiments. 


566 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


If  wc  may  credit  the  class-books  in  physiology — now  in  com- 
mon use  in  our  schools — “ about  one  per  cent.’’  of  the  perspi 
ration  from  the  human  body  “consists  of  solid  substances 
which  are  the  products  of  the  decomposition  constantly  taking 
place  in  the  tissues.”’ 

That  even  the  substance  of  the  osseous  system  is  perpetu- 
ally changing,  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  the  bones  of 
swine,  after  they  ha’ve  been  eating  madder— a plant  of  the 
genus  Rubia— are  found  to  be  colored.  If  matter  is  thus 
readily  introduced  into  the  composition  and  structure  of  the 
bones,  it  must  be  as  readily  and  as  rapidly  removed  from  them 
or  otherwise  they  would  continue  to  increase  iu  size  after 
the  animal  had  reached  the  last  degree  in  its  normal  deve- 
lopment. A further  illustration  may  be  found  in  the  fact  of 
the  admission  of  mineral  poisons  into  the  circulation  and 
the  tissues,  and  their  subsequent  elimination.  On  this  point 
we  cite  the  demonstrative  experiments  of  M.  Orfila,  also  of 
the  French  Academy  : 

“la  eighteen  months  I was  able  to  experiment  on  only  four  poisonous 
substances — bichloride  of  mercury,  acetate  of  lead,  sulphate  of  copper 
and  nitrate  of  silver.  These  experiments  have  taught  me  that  when  the 
above  poisonous  substances  are  administered  to  animals,  (hat  mercury  dis- 
appears in  general  from  the  organs  in  eight  or  ten  days.  Lead  and  copper 
are  found  in  the  intestinal  parietes  and  in  the  bones  eight  months  after  they 
have  ceased  to  be  introduced  into  the  stomach.  Silver,  whose  presence  in 
the  liver  may,  in  some  cases,  be  demonstrated  after  six  months,  i-s  not  found 
in  any  organ  of  other  animals,  seven  months  after  the  administration  of 
nitrate  of  silver.  * * * 

“ Should  a man  survive  a poisoning  by  corrosivie  sublimate  for  fifteen  days, 
it  is  very  possible  that  the  chemists,  consulted  in  the  case,  would  find  no 


1 Appendix  to  Appleton’s  Second  Edition  of  Coming  s ?hysiology,  p.  255. 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


567 


mercury  in  the  orgins  They  would,  however,  commil  a great  error  should 
Ihey  conclude  that  ther  • had  been  no  attempt  to  poison,” 

From  the  foregoing  facts  and  observations,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  molecular  changes  occur  through  all  the  solid 
portions  of  the  body,  and  that  the  same  chemical  elements 
may  assumeJa  fluid  and  solid  form.  Tlie  vital  action,  as  ob- 
served in  the  processes  of  organic  chemistry,  is  essentially 
one  with  combustion  : and  while  from  day  to  day  the  vital 
flres  consume  the  body,  they  also  prepare  the  foreign  ele- 
ments wherewith  Nature  rebuilds  the  temple  of  the  Soul. 

The  rational  inquirer  will  neither  be  the  first  to  dispute 
the  natural  evidences  of  his  own  immortality,  nor  can  he 
willingly  believe  in  the  loss  of  his  identity,  and 

“ A positive  diffusion  of  the  soul 
Among  the  elements' (hat  make  the  world.” 

Nevertheless,  there  are  mortals  whose  chronic  skepticism, 
prompts  them  to  make  every  possible  effort  to  subvert  the 
claims  of  manhood  to  an  imperishable  life.  In  such  minds 
certain  objections  to  the  preceding  argument  very  naturally 
arise,  and  as  thes'e  may  diminish  the  faith  and  obscure  the 
prospects  of  several  honest  minds,  it  may  be  well  to  expose 
the  fallacy  of  the  objections. 

A distinguished  materialist  maintains  that  the  corporeal 
system  can  not  be  changed  in  its  entirety,  once  in  seven 
years,  more  or  less  ; that  if  it  were  so,  warts  and  other 
abnormal  developments,  on  the  surfaces  of  animal  and  lunnan 
bodies,  would  inevitably  be  removed,  whereas  they  frequently 
remain  during  a much  longer  period  ; and  he  cites  an  ex- 
ample of  thirty-five  years’  standing.  But  the  fact  that  such 


568 


MAN  AND  HIS  UEDATIOXS. 


an  excrescence  lias  so  long  continued,  precisely  where  it  now 
is,  and  still  presents  the  same  general  appearance,  illustrates 
nothing  hut  the  blindness  of  persons  who,  finding  that  their 
eartlily  and  soulless  theories  are  unsupported  by  the  present 
normal  developments  of  the  human  mind,  vainly  attempt  to 
hang  something  worse  than  “ a forlorn  hope”  on  the  preter- 
natural and  superfluous  parts  of  the  perishable  body.  With 
equal  propriety  it  may  be  assumed  that — since  tlie  individual 
so  far  resembles  himself  (as  he  existed  thirty-five  years  ago) 
that  his  friends  are  still  able  to  identify  his  person— we  are 
authorized  to  conclude  that  the  same  matter  formed  his  body 
at  the  commencement  of  that  period  that  constitutes  it  to- 
day. This  is  begging  the  whole  question,  in  a manlier  that 
does  not  comport  with  the  high  logical  pretentions  of  men 
who  make  such  objections.  The  nails  on  the  writer’s  fingers 
present  the  same  specific  form  and  general  appearance  that 
distinguished  them  thirty-five  years  ago  ; but  it  would  be 
extremely  difficult  to  sustain  an  argument  designed  to  prove 
the  identity  of  the  ultimate  atoms  in  their  composition,  after 
each  one  of  them  has  been  gradually  pared  off*  to  the  extent 
of  two  or  three  feet  in  all. 

The  second  objection  maintains  that  if  the  whole  composi- 
tion and  structure  of  the  body  be  thus  subject  to  a gradual 
decomposition  and  re-formation — the  ultimate  particles  be- 
ing thrown  off*  by  a natural  process,  and  their  places  sup- 
' plied  by  new  molecular  deposits — all  the  old  flesh- marks  and 
! scars,  produced  by  accident  or  otherwise,  would  bo  com- 
pletely obliterated.  This  objection,  so  well  calculated  to 
confound  the  superficial  observer,  has  really  not  the  sliglitost 
weight  in  the  judgment  of  more  enliglitened  [fliysiologists. 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


569 


When  the  injury  does  not  penetrate  beneath  the  epidermis 
it  leaves  no  scar ; bnt  vdien  the  instrument  tliat  inflicts  a 
M^oiind  severs,  or  otherwise  obstructs  the  channels  of  the 
circulation,  a scar  may  remain  after  the  liealing  process  is 
complete,  for  tlie  obvious  reason  that  the  anastomosis  of  tlie 
vessels  through  which  the  fluids  circulate  is  never  as  perfect 
as  before.  The  re-formation  of  the  parts  must,  thereafter, 
proceed  vuthout  a complete  inosculation,  and  the  subsequent 
molecular  deposits  are  consequently  rendered  irregular  in 
time  and  unequal  in  measure,  as  a quantitative  analysis, 
aided  by  a microscopic  inspection,  would  clearly  demonstrate. 

Again,  it  is  insisted  that  human  physiology  clearly  proves 
that  the  mind  and  body  never  exist  separately  or  inde- 
pendently of  each  other.’’  Had  the  objector  merely  assumed 
that  the  mind  never  exists  except  in  a body,  or  organic  form 
through  which  its  faculties  may  be  manifested,  there  would 
be  little  occasion  for  controversy;  but  since  the  objection 
has  specific  reference  to  the  present  organic  instrument  of 
the  mind— corporeal  body — we  are  authorized  to  dispute 
the  proposition,  and  affirm  that  it  is  not  possible  for  physi- 
ology to  prove  any  such  dependence  of  the  mind  on  the 
\ body.  Physiological  science  furnishes  abundant  evidence  to 
prove  that  the  mind  and  body  are  capable  of  existing  toge- 
ther under  proper  conditions — nothing  more.  But  our  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  what  the  human  intelligence  can  do, 
under  certain  specific  conditions,  does  not  authorize  us  to 
fix  arbitrary  limits  to  the  exercise  of  its  faculties,  under 
other  conditions  and  circumstances,  which  have  neither  oc- 
I curred  in  our  private  experience  nor  chanced  to  come  within 
J the  limited  range  of  our  casual  observation. 


570 


MAN  AND  HTS  DELATIONS. 


Tlie  same  material  pliilosopher  has  aiiotlier  objection  to 
our  immortality,  which  is  tlius  expressed  : “ The  mind  is 
always  affected  by  the  conditions  of  the  body,  which  would 
I hardly  be  the  case  if  they  were  distinct.’^  This  objection  is 
unsound  in  fact  and  infelicitous  in  the  form  ofthe  statement. 
The  author  evinces  a lack  of  proper  discrimination.  It  is 
not  asserted  that  the  mind  and  body  now  exist  separately. 
The  real  question  relates  to  the  innate  capacity  of  the  soul 
to  exist  in  a state  of  separation  from  the  physical  form.  It 
is  conceded  that  the  mental  functions  are  influenced  by  the 
4 conditions  of  the  material  body,  so  long  as  they  coexist ; 
but  this  concession  can  not  be  used  to  support  the  negative 
proposition  that  the  mind  is,  and  must  remain,  forever  inca- 
pable of  an  independent  existence.  Different  individuals 
influence  each  other  in  the  social  relation.  The  writer  has 
often  directed  the  mental  faculties,  and  governed  the  bodily 
functions  of  other  people  ; but  this  neitlier  proves  tliat  the 
separate  individualities  among  them  were  annihilated,  nor 
that  their  continued  existence  must  depend  on  the  preserva- 
tion and  constant  presence  of  the  source  of  that  influence. 
Agreeably  to  the  peculiar  logic  exhibited  in  the  objection, 
if  one  cliild  in  school  has  the  mumps,  and  communicates  the 
inflammation  to  the  parotid  glands  of  one  liundred  children, 
we  must  conclude  that  tliey  can  no  more  live  if  separated 
from  each  otlier.  For,  if  so  many  are  affected  by  one  body, 
liow  can  we  recognize  any  individual  distinctions  among 
tliem,  and  what  possible  claim  has  any  cliild  to  an  independ- 
ent existence ! 

An  incorrigible  unbeliever — who  scorned  to  liold  on  to  tlic 
cold  dogma  of  annihilation  with  as  much  tenacity  and  affcc- 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OE  IMMORTALITY.  571 

tion  as  most  men  cling  to  life  and  a rational  hope  of  iminor- 
lality — once  came  to  tlie  autlior,  and  exposing  liis  riglit  arm, 
which  was  pictured  over  with  India  ink,  said,  with  an  air 
of  triumph,  “It  is  a quarter  of  a century  since  these  pic- 
tures were  made  on  this  arm,  and  in  view  of  this  fact,  what 
becomes  of  your  seven  years^  theory  V’  The  answer  was — 
India  ink  is  a foreign  substance  that  was  never  naturalized 
in  the  human  system  by  the  process  of  assimilation.  Hence, 
it  is  no  more  a portion  of  the  matter  belonging  to  the  body, 
and  subject  to  the  processes  of  organic  chemistry,  than 
either  a lady’s  ear-rings  ; the  gold  filling  of  a tooth,  or  a 
pistol  ball  which  a duellist  may — for  half  his  life  time — 
chance  to  carry  in  his  body.  The  seven  years’  philosophy  is 
apparently  secure  enough,  but  pray  what  becomes  of  the 
objections? 

“ It  is  better  to  reason  than  to  cavil.” 

Inow  if  it  be  conceded  that  the  elements,  which  enter  into 
the  chemical  composition  and  organic  structure  of  the  body, 
are  completely  changed— by  the  natural  processes  already 
described— it  will  be  impossible  for  the  materialist,  consist- 
ently with  his  theory,  to  account  for  the  significant  fact  that 
tlnUidentity  is  never  lost.  - If  the  essential  individuality 
belonged  to  the  flesh,  we  might  rationally  infer  that  it  would 
inevitably  be  annihilated  as  often  as  the  body  is  changed. 
But  the  corporeal  changes  leave  all  the  lines  of  our  indivi- 
duality unbroken.  Whilst  it  is  obvious  that  the  man  of  half 
a century  must  have  had  a number  of  bodies,  we  find  that 
deeply  engraven  in  his  consciousness  is  the  history  of  each 
and  all.  The  materialist’s  only  reason  for  presuming  that 
our  identity  is  lost,  and  that  conscious  existence  terminates 

o6 


572 


MAN  AND  HIS  RELATIONS. 


at  doatli,  is  predicated  of  the  simple  fact  that  the  physical 
body  is  disorganized.  The  conclusion  is  not  sustained  by 
the  evidence.  Disorganization  has  occurred— after  a more 
gradual  manner,  to  be  sure — several  times  before — the  entire 
composition  of  tlie  body  having  been  repeatedly  changed  ; 
and  still  the  identity  has  been  preserved  througTi  all  these 
changes,  and  we  feel  assured  that  our  existence  here  is  one. 
We  can  recall  the  events  of  the  past,  and  even  in  life’s  last 
hours — when  the  still  conscious  soul  catches  glimpses  of  the 
world  beyond — the  little  incidents  of  childhood  are  preserved 
with  all  their  freshness.  Thus  it  is  rendered  evident,  that 
there  must  be  an  internal  or  spiritual  constitution,  which  is 
the  ultimate  recepticle  of  all  the  impressions  made  on  the 
organic  instruments  of  perception ; 'and  hence  the  lines  of 
individuality  are  not  obliterated  by  the  gradual  decomposi- 
tion of  the  living  body.  W^ith  these  facts  in  view,  we  can 
not  entertain  the  hypothesis  that  another  and  final  transition, 
whatever  may  be  the  circumstances  of  its  occurrence,  can 
obliterate  the  record,  destroy  consciousness,  and  make  an 
end  of  life./ 

Will  it  be  said  tliat  this  argument  is  unsound  because  the 
transitions  between  infancy  and  old  age  are  unlike  d#ith, 
being  more  gradual  ? This  objection,  specious  as  it  may 
appear,  can  not  invalidate  our  reasoning  If  the  change  be 
entire,  the  time  employed  in  its  accomplisliment  can  make 
no  important  difference.  Whetfier  the  constituents  of  the 
body  are  removed  in  a longer  or  shorter  period — in  portions 
large  or  small — the  conclusion  appears  to  be  inevitable.  If 
there  were  no  inward  form  or  spiritual  constitution,  it  is 
certain  that  the  molecular  eliminations  would  periodically 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


573 


destroy  the  identity  of  man,  and  hence  memory  would  be 
limited  to  a brief  period,  and  a narrow  range  of  objects, 
events  and  ideas.  Suppose  the  existenco  of  a tablet,  bear- 
ing a certain  inscription  ; If  you  annually  remove  one-seventh 
part,  either  by  the  destruction  of  a particular  section  of  the 
same,  or  by  displacing  one  ultimate  atom  in  every  seven,  it 
would  follow  that  at  the  expiration  of  seven  years  the  whole 
would  be  removed.  But  if,  to  render  the  illustration  more 
complete,  we  suppose  the  places  occupied  by  the  eliminated 
particles  to  be  supplied  by  others,  we  shall  at  last  have  only 
a blank  tabid.  Who  then  would  be  able  to  read  the  inscrip- 
tion? So  if  man,  like  a monument,  were  only  formed  of 
{he  substances  of  the  physical  world,  the  records  of  his  per- 
sonal experience  would  be  frequently  blotted  out,  and  he 
would,  ex  necessitate,  be  obliged  to  commence  his  individual 
life  anew. 

But  this  point  admits  of  a more  forcible  illustration.  The 
impressions  made  on  the  sensorium — ‘inore  especially  through 
the  organs  of  vision — very  much  resemble  the  photographic 
images.  Baptista  Porta,  the  inventor  of  the  camera,  must 
have  studied  the  stucture  of  the  eye,  which  also  has  its  dark 
chamber,  its  double  convex  lens,  and  a membrane  susceptible 
of  the  most  exquisite  impressions,  and  corresponding  to  the 
chemically  prepared  surface  of  the  photographer’s  plate. 
The  physical  phenomena  of  vision  result  from  the  admission 
of  light  through  the  lenses  of  fche  eye.  into  the  visual  cham- 
ber, and  from  the  natural  laws  of  refraction,  the  images  of 
external  objects  being  thus  daguerreo typed  on  the  dark  sur- 
face of  the  choroid  membrane.  Now  if  there  were  no  in- 
ternal, spiritual  depository,  of  the  images  thus  produced,  not 


574 


MAN  AND  HIS  DELATIONS. 


one  of  them  could  remain  unobsciired,  since  every  new  pic- 
ture on  the  same  surface  would  serve  to  disfigure  and  obli- 
terate the  last,  producing  a complete  chaos  of  broken  out- 
lines and  dissolving  forms. 

But  time  is  no  such  iconoclast,  in  respect  to  the  images 
that  live  in  Memory.  Instead  of  defaced  records  and  dis- 
solving views,  the  forms  and  associations  of  all  the  Past  are 
clearly  inwrought  in  the  faculty  of  memory,  and  the  events 
of  childhood  are  frequently  remembered  with  the  greatest 
distinctness.  The  old  man  among  the  graves  of  his  genera- 
tion is  seemingly  insensible  of  the  living  tide  that  rises 
around  him,  and  on  which  he  is  upborne  like  the  last  wreck 
of  the  storm.  He  seems  solitary,  and  may  not  regard  the 
presence  of  any  one,  for  he  is  absent  in  spirit.  I have  seen 
the  old  man,  and  learned  the  cause  of  his  abstraction. 

“ Through  the  shadowy  past, 

Like  a tomb-searcher.  Memory  ran. 

Lifting  each  shroud  that  Time  had  cast 
O’er  all  he  loved,’’ 

If  the  identity  is  destroyed  when  the  elements  of  the  body 
are  dissipated,  will  the  materialist  tell  us  why  the  old  man 
thus  dwells  in  the  past ; and  by  what  mysterious  magnetism 
is  he  consciously  attracted  to  the  absent  and  the  dead  ? 

The  evidences  of  man’s  two-fold  nature  are  various  and 
apparently  conclusive.  Within  this  corporeal  frame  there  is 
another  body,  constituted  of  more  ethereal  elements  and  an 
imperishable  organization.  It  is  a curious  fact  that  persons 
who  have  lost  a limb  always  have  an  internal  consciousness 
that  the  body  is  still  complete.  Although  an  arm  or  a leg 
may  have  been  amputated  years  before,  and  its  decomposed 


NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  IMMORTALITY.  575 

elements  scattered  by  tlie  winds  and  waves,  tlie  individual 
yet  feels  tliat  the  lost  member  is  with  him  and  sustaining  its 
])roper  relations  ; and  his  sensation  extends  to  the  very  ex- 
tremity, almost  as  perfectly  as  when  the  limb  was  there. 
This  may  seem  incredible,  but  the  fact  is  confirmed  by  the 
uniform  experience  of  all  who  have  suiTered  the  loss  of  one 
or  more  of  their  members.  The  sphere  of  their  conscious 
existence  is  never  circumscribed  by  this  partial  destruction 
of  the  body.  From  this  significant  fact  we  can  only  infer 
that  the  individuality  of  man  does  not  belong  to  his  body, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  inheres  in  a supra-mortal  and 
indestructible  constitution. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  certain  physicians  and 
material  philosophers  have  attempted  to  account  for  the  im- 
portant fact  just  noticed,  by  presuming  that  the  sensation 
of  the  lost  member  results  from  association.  Such  an  ex- 
planation needs  to  be  explained  ; and  to  be  fortified  by  some 
show  of  evidence.  Indeed  it  is  no  explanation  at  all,  but 
an  absurd  assumption.  If  it  were  possible  for  the  senses  to 
be  so  influenced,  and  perverted  to  this  unaccountable  degree, 
they  would  be  totally  unreliable.  Agreeably  to  this  hypo- 
thesis, if  I have  been  accustomed  to  meet  a friend — dressed 
in  a drab  coat^every  morning  for  one  year,  I may  expect 
to  see  the  same  drab  coat  forever  after,  notwithstanding  my 
friend  may  have  exchanged  it  for  a black  one.  We  are 
accustomed  to  see  all  people  with  some  kind  of  wearing 
apparel,  but  no  law  of  association  prevents  our  instantly 
distinguishing  a nude  figure  from  those  that  are  clothed. 
But  (to  bring  the  illustration  nearer  home)  if  a man  who 
has  been  sick  and  in  constant  pain  for  ten  years  should  at 


576 


MAN  AND  EIIS  RELATIONS. 


length  recover,  he  surely  would  not  continue  to  suffer — from 
association — the  same  pains  during  tlie  remainder  of  his 
natural  life.  If,  in  such  a case,  the  materialist  were  himself 
the  patient,  he  miglit  rationally  dispute  the  reality  of  the 
cure,  but  he  would  surely  be  the  last  man  to  entertain  his 
own  hypothesis,  in  attempting  to  account  for  his  continued 
sufferings. ' 

But  the  man  who  in  his  youth  lost  a limb,  even  now,  in 
his  maturity,  feels  that  he  has  all  the  members  necessary  to 
constitute  a perfect  manhood,  and  he  is  hourly  reminded 
that  sensation  remains  entire  though  the  nervous  mechanism 
is  in  part  destroyed.  This  is  a most  significant  proof  of  the 
existence  of  an  internal  and  immortal  constitution.  This 
spiritual  body  can  not  be  mutilated  by  such  instruments  and 
methods,  as  may  be  employed  to  disorganize  the  physical 
structure.  But  if  there  be  no  spiritual  organism-^ the  ulti* 
mate  receptacle  of  all  our  sensorial  impressions — how  can 
feeling  remain  when  the  sensor  nerves  are  severed  and  the 
entire  member  has  perislied?  Moreover,  if  these  members 
of  the  body  may  be  removed  without  either  disturbing  the 
original  limits  of  sensation  or  circumscribing  the  sphere  of 
consciousness,  it  must  follow  that  the  whole  body  may  be  de- 
composed and  yet  all  these  powers  of  life, -and  sense,  and 
thought  may  remain. 

But  if  a man  be  immortal  in  his  individuality,  why  do  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  seem  to  decay  with  the  organs  of  the 
body  ? Here  we  meet  the  old  Materialism  in  the  stronghold 
from  which  it  has  contended  witli  its  greatest  apparent  suc- 
cess. Those  whose  conclusions  are  determined  by  sensuous 
observation  of  visible  phenomena,  know  little  or  nothing  of 


